Curiosities
by AriannaK
Summary: A female ranger tagging grizzly bears in the wilderness is confronted with a dark and towering muscular form-and she fires her gun for defense...but what she ends up shooting is not a bear. Her plan is to study this alien for herself, and then turn it in to the government-however, her plans go awry...and love finds a way... (Warning, Rated M for adult, sexual themes).
1. Chapter 1

With warm freshly dried hair, she untucked the end of the towel from between her breasts and flung the cloth over the shower rod to dry. Naked, she proceeded into her bedroom to dress. After a second of debating, she decided on a pair of pink lace underwear and slipped those on before grabbing blue jeans from another drawer. Liana pulled the jeans snuggly over the curve of her hips, put on a bra, and V-neck top. Back in front of the bathroom mirror, she combed through her long red-brown hair until it was shiny and smooth.

She stared at the reflection of her blue eyes, so light in color they were almost gray. Then, she pulled back her hair in a ponytail, put on her steel-toe hiking boots, fastened a belt with gun holster around her hips, and slipped on her official park ranger jacket before leaving the house. Liana climbed up into her silver four-door Jeep Wrangler, and headed into grizzly bear territory.

Her job was simple enough, in theory. She trapped, tagged, and released north american brown bears. She mostly went out into hunting territory to keep track of the populations, but on occasion did receive calls about problem bears invading homes. For a young pretty girl like her, even though she had gone through years of college, getting a job like this and alone-without a macho male body guard-was difficult but she had worked hard and proven herself. She did not live close enough to family for them to be a distraction, and didn't have a husband or kids to take away from her career. Which was good, because her career was an everyday, all day, job with bad pay.

Her parents would never understand, but there was just something about these giant beasts that she was drawn to. She didn't do it for the money. Her GPS lead her to the closest trap, and the Jeep rolled to a stop. She hopped out to go check the trap first before she grabbed her gear from the back. She would either need to re-bait the trap, or grab her other stuff for tagging.

Liana carried a typical defense gun for rangers, a Glock 20, which was a small reliable handgun, but it was faster and easier to use than a rifle if a bear decided to charge. She'd been doing this work for three years, and so far she had never needed to shoot a bear, but walking up on a baited trap was still dangerous. If there wasn't a bear in the trap, one could still be nearby. The metal chord was undisturbed however, the snare trap in the same position she had left it. Vultures and small animals had consumed much of the bait.

The trap being un-sprung was a good sign as well as bad. Not catching a bear meant that they were smart enough to stay away from areas that smelled of humans, and bears that stayed away from humans did not get shot around residential homes and were less likely to be successfully hunted. But if she didn't catch them, she could not keep track of the population, and grizzly bears were listed as a threatened species likely to become endangered-even though they were still legal to hunt.

Liana went back to the Jeep, slung a duffle bag over her shoulder, and lifted one of the five gallon buckets from the back. She hiked the short distance to the trap, still gaining mud on her boots and leaves in her hair, and got out her gloves. The second she popped the lid to the bucket, her senses were assaulted with the smell of blood and meat. Hunting and butcher leftovers as well as road kill were all good bait. She lifted the heap of meat and dangling bones out of the bucket, hurrying to bait the trap with fresher kill, and then slung the soupy bits of blood and guts left in the bottom of the bucket around the trap.

She put the gear back in the Jeep and quickly headed to the next trap before a bear was lured to the smell. As well, she had to check all the traps often to make sure a desperate bear did not harm its leg in the snare traps she set. She had heard of bears struggling so violently that they tore their own limbs off as well as hunters traps that were left unchecked too long only to find the remains of a gnawed off paw from a bear. So far, it had never happened to her, but she had tranquilizers, medical kits, and even a cage set up back at her residence incase a bear did need to be held until wounds healed.

The next trap was sprung, but empty, indicating that whatever had stepped into it was too small to remain caught as the noose had a stopping mechanism as to not cut off blood circulation. A fox, raccoon, or even a hunting dog's paw would be too small. This ensured the safety of the animal, as well as allowed her to choose the size of the animal she wished to catch. The worst situation would be to catch a young cub in a trap, and have to sedate an angry female bear before she could release the cub.

Male grizzlies grew bigger than their female counterparts, at their biggest weighing around eight hundred pounds and standing at a towering 8ft tall. Most did not reach that big, but in her first year on the job she had stumbled across what looked to be a record-sized male grizzly. It had been hovering over a moose carcass, barely gave her a glance, and she was able to back away and make it to the Jeep without having to draw her gun. No matter the size of the males though, it was the females with cubs to protect that she was more worried about.

Liana reset and baited the trap, and moved on. The next several traps were empty as well, some disturbed and some not. She had woken up early, just as the sun was rising, but it wasn't until the afternoon that she finally found a trap with a bear.

By the darker hump on its back, she could tell immediately that it was a grizzly, and by its small size she could tell it was young. Its back leg was held in the snare, and by the claw marks on the tree she knew it had tried to climb up the tree several times at an attempt to escape. Liana went back to the jeep, grabbed her bag of supplies, and came back to the trap. She loaded the gun with the tranquilizer, and stepped closer, just outside the bears reach, indicated by the circle in the ground swept clear of leaves and debri by the pacing animal. As soon as the dart hit, the bear tried to take off, but was only able to hide behind the tree.

She waited for the sedative to kick in, and then cautiously began to examine the animal. Liana poked the bottom of its foot with the muzzle of the tranquilizer rifle, noting there was no reaction. She then set the gun down and checked its eyes. It was definitely sedated, so she unzipped her bag and began to work. A rectal thermometer took its temperature, she checked its teeth, approximated its weight, and guessed at its age. She measured the length of the animal, checked its claws, checked inside its ears, and then gave it a small little metal tag on one ear to keep track of it if she ever trapped it again.

When all of her data was collected, she removed the snare from its leg, and put all of her stuff back in the Jeep. Before she left, she checked its pulse to make sure it was doing fine under the sedative, as some animals reacted badly to the drugs, and then she moved onto the next trap. She would have to come back later to reset the snare when the bear was gone. Unlike some of the other bear species, grizzlies were generally too large to quickly escape a threat by climbing a nearby tree, and instead chose to stand their ground. One waking up from a sedative, wobbly, would certainly be angry and just might chose to attack rather than run. Even though she liked to make sure the animal woke up fine, she wouldn't chance it.

The rest of the traps were just as uneventful, and she finished her work about three hours before sundown as usual. Usually, Liana chose to head back home to type the data into her computer as a backup to her thick notebooks, but this time she decided that she needed a nature hike instead. It wasn't always easy to enjoy the fresh air when you were constantly unloading blood and meat into traps.

She parked the Jeep where she knew she could easily find it again, grabbed her keys and her GPS, and set out into the forest. Liana tried to fill her thoughts will the beauty of the land-the vibrant green moss on the rocks, the fuzzy caterpillars, the colorful mushrooms, and the beautiful sunshine that filtered passed the green leaves of the trees. However, she couldn't help but look at feces on the ground and try to determine what sort of animal it came from. When she spotted a little fruit fly, she couldn't help her minds reaction, immediately rehearsing its scientific name _Drosophila melanogaster_.

Liana was always doing that. Her mind continued to work even when she just wanted to relax. As a child, she remembered her and her friends finding honeysuckle vines on the edge of the forest and they would pick the flowers off and eat them. It wasn't as sweet as real honey, but it was fun. However, as an adult, whenever Liana found the honeysuckle vine she ripped them out and trampled them, as they were a foreign and invasive species of plant. There was the native species of twining honeysuckle, but the japanese honeysuckle was what was invasive, and what she had eaten when she was young.

As she heard movement ahead of her, her hand hovered over the gun, and she froze. The rustling of brush grew louder before she spotted the mass of brown fur making its way steadily towards her. Liana watched the large grizzly, approximating the height to its shoulders to be about three and a half feet. The fur around its face was a slightly lighter color that its body, and the hump on its back was slightly darker. Liana was entranced.

The large bear walked pretty fast, only stopping briskly to paw at the ground and search the bushes for berries. But, as it grew closer, it sniffed the air and then its eyes locked on her. Liana felt a jolt of adrenaline enter her system, but she remained still. These huge animals were not to be feared; they were not killers at heart.

She held onto that belief, even as it slowly moved closer, still watching her. Liana could not outrun a bear. She could not best a bear at climbing, wrestling, or probably even intimidation. She looked into its dark brown eyes. The bear shifted its weight, smelled the air, and then flopped onto its behind. Its eyes still watched her, seeming as curious about her as she was of him.

The hand that hovered over the gun moved away, and Liana finally felt content in the forest. She watched the heavy rise and fall of its chest, and the way its breath moved the grass in front of its face. Its fur looked so lusciously thick, glossy, and soft. Something about it made her assume it was female. It was a beautiful creature in her eyes.

When it heard something in the forest, its ears perked up and it craned its neck searching around, looking very innocent and goofy. She could have stared at it for hours, yet the sky was beginning to grow dim. Before she could move, the bear seemed to be thinking the same thing and stood back up on all fours. It dared to move closer to her, sniffing and looking at her, then moved on. She watched it pass right beside her, a little more than ten feet away but she felt so close that she might have been able to touch it. Liana kept her eyes on it until it blended in with the surrounding trees and disappeared.

She had been so absorbed with it though, she must not have seen what was encroaching on her from behind. A glimpse of moving shadows out of the corner of her eye caused her to turn around, her hand instinctively going for her gun. Her fingers curled around the weight of it as her eyes lifted up to the dark towering mass ahead of her. Hesitation would get a person killed. When something in the woods that was made out of muscle suddenly stood so close in front of you, at around eight foot tall in grizzly territory-you shot to kill. And that is exactly what she did.

The shots rang out in quick succession, one, two, hitting it at above her eye level. Liana had been so close that she felt the spray of blood hit her face, and she turned away as the animal fell to the ground with a thud. Her chest was already heaving, and her thoughts filled with confusion and guilt. It was not a bear. It had looked like a man.

She wiped the blood off her face though, and stared at the streaks of fluorescent green on her palm.


	2. Chapter 2

Liana turned her face back to the body, her eyes going wide. It looked like a human in so many ways, but it was not. Her mind raced with excuses from an experiment gone wrong, a person from the future, to what everyone had been calling bigfoot, but her mind settled on alien. She had just killed an alien, and there was no doubt in her mind that it was dead. Radioactive-looking green blood oozed from the bullet wounds and pooled underneath it. Shot at such close range, one bullet left a gaping hole in its neck. The other, left a cavity high on its chest. It was dead.

Her eyes looked past the body to stare at the beautiful orange and yellow coloring the sky had taken. It was getting dark, and time was against her. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end at just the thought of being in the dark with such a body, the remains of an alien, but she wanted to do something. She was a conservationist, meant to try and protect the diversity of life, and she had destroyed it instead. She hadn't given the creature a chance. The respectful thing to do would be to bury the body.

She didn't have a shovel though, and it would soon be dark. She had already shot one animal, and she did not want a bear come to investigate and have to shoot it too. Critters would likely eat away at it, flies would start to lay maggots, but she had no other choice. Liana hurried from the forest, leaving the body and her sanity far behind her. She climbed up in the Jeep, started the engine, and sat there taking deep breaths. She promised herself that she could come back straight away in the morning, and began heading home.

Jumping at shadows and freezing at every little sound, she made sure the Jeep, the shed, and everything else was securely locked. In the house, she checked the windows and shut the blinds. More than just bears and coyotes were out there in the dark. Her muscles were tense and her body felt tightly coiled like a spring. She needed to relax, so instead of cleaning her gun or messing with household chores, she drew herself a bath. Liana stripped her clothes off, carelessly leaving the belt with the gun in the bedroom and her clothes in a pile on the bathroom floor. She immersed herself in the hot water, feeling her stress being washed away.

Her fingers massaged the shampoo into her hair, she shaved, then she sat there with her eyes closed for what felt like hours. Her fingers and toes were impossibly wrinkled by the time she drained the tub and washed off. She towel dried her hair as much as possible, and then crawled into bed naked. She lay there for several minutes, her eyes open, and her fingers tensely holding the edge of the sheet. She didn't think she would even be able to fall asleep after what had happened, but eventually she slipped into dreams.

Liana jolted awake with the alarm clocks annoying beeping. Having slept, but not feeling rested, she hurried to put on clothes and didn't even bother to comb her hair. She snatched the shovel she used to pick up roadkill with and tossed it in the back of the Jeep. She knew the park pretty well, and stopped the Jeep in the same place she had as last night. She easily hiked up slope back to the place she had left the body. She had almost been hoping that it wouldn't be there, that it all had been a dream, but there was green blood on the forest floor. Avoiding looking at it, she poked the ground with the end of the shovel, looking for the softest place to dig.

Knowing she would have to dig a pretty big hole, she leaned on the shovel, and reluctantly looked over at the body. She stared at it, unbelieving of what she was seeing. Her body tensed suddenly though, noticing that the shoulders of the body were slumped up against the trunk of the tree, the puddle of blood beside it. The body had been moved.

She walked in front of it, crouching, staring at the blank metal mask that hid its face. It didn't appear to be breathing, as its chest didn't move. It had a hole in its neck and its chest. It had lost so much blood, there was just now way it was alive...Yet, she decided to check anyway. She pressed her fingers to the man's wrist, finding no pulse, which immensely relieved her. And just to be sure, she tilted its head away and pressed two fingers to its neck. She waited, feeling nothing at first, and then almost a weak pulse.

Thinking her mind had been playing tricks on her, she waited until she felt it again. Her thoughts raced. It was alive. She ran back to the Jeep, flinging open the door to grab her medical kit. It was unbelievable. Liana raced back to the body, and quickly dug into the box. She had everything she could ever need, but finding it was the problem. After picking out the correct tool, she slipped on her gloves, and hovered over the body-Her biology degree did _not _qualify her for this.

The first bullet had gone through its neck and out, so she removed the second bullet from its chest. She cleaned and disinfected both of the wounds, and then wrapped them up. Then, out of pure curiosity, her hands went to metal that covered its face. Her fingers felt around the edges, pulling slightly until she heard a wisp of air escape the tubes on the side, and the mask released. More of its luminous green blood dripped down to its chest and she slowly moved the mask to the side so she could see its features.

"Christ!" she rocked back on her heels at the sight of its grotesque face.

She quickly had to turn away from it, the reality of the situation somehow sharpened by seeing its uncovered head. It was definitely alien. Its size, she could ignore. Its odd diseased-looking skin, she could overlook. The mask and armor, she could dismiss. But its face...its face terrified her. Liana cleaned the soft gel inside of its mask, squinted as she cleaned the blood off his ugly face, and then put the metal back in place and reconnected the tubes. With that sound of released air she had heard when taking it off, Liana had to assume that the mask was a necessary breathing apparatus.

She dug out her cell phone then, and stared down at it in her hand. She just kept thinking that she should call someone-the sheriff, or something. People should know what was out there, but she couldn't do it. If the police came, if people saw, they might get spooked and start shooting bears as she had first mistaken the alien as. And if a government agency came, they might erase all record of the alien and she would live out the rest of her life feeling crazy, knowing exactly what she had seen, yet no one would believe her. She was a common ranger. The government would not let her study the alien, and that is just really what she wanted to do.

Curiosity got the best of her. She shoved her cell phone back in her pocket, her decision clear. Liana would get to study the alien, document it, and write an essay about it even if no one would read it. Then, when her curiosities were sated, she would turn the alien in to the government. She had an oversized cage trap for bears she planned on using if one was injured, and so she could just lock him in there. And when it was time to call someone in, she would just say that one day she baited the trap and caught...an alien. It was a rough plan, but she would have time to smooth out the details later.

Right now, she needed to get him back to her house and into the cage. He was about eight foot tall, muscular, and had to weigh two hundred pounds easy. Liana on the other hand, was a lithe but tough curvy female that stood about five and a half foot tall. Moving him was not going to be easy. She abandoned him in the woods again to get back in her Jeep and back to her house. She loaded the two-by-fours in the back and then headed into the woods again, parking as close to him as she could.

Liana lined the pieces of wood up onto the tailgate of her Jeep, hooked her arms under his, and then began to drag his body over. The alien was limp in her hands, wounded, and incredibly heavy. She pulled and shoved, struggled, before finally tying rope to his legs and rope to the Jeep like a pulley system. She yanked on the rope even as it cut into her hands and slowly slid him up onto the tailgate. Her chest heaving, she dropped the rope and went around to shove his legs out of the way to close the tailgate, but paused.

In her head, she kept referencing the alien as a 'he' but after seeing its face she couldn't say it was a definite male or female. Her closest guess at this point would be that it was a hermaphrodite. Liana hopped up onto the tailgate, and began to undo the strap that held its metal plated goin cup in place. She set the armor down beside it, and plucked at the end of its soft loincloth to lift it and see for herself what it was. Liana sexed bears frequently. It was a very routine thing. Yet, her cheeks blushed a deep red when her eyes settled on its anatomy. It was definitely, without a doubt, a 'he'. The alien had perfectly normal, healthy male parts exactly matching any human male, only bigger.

Liana let the cloth fall back into place, covering him back up, but she was tempted to look at it again. It had looked too normal, circumcised even, and she just doubted that aliens would bother with such a thing. However, she knew she would get other opportunities to examine him, and hopped out of the back and slammed the tailgate closed. She collected her stuff, tried to cover up the oddly green blood that was drying on the ground, then drove him back to her place.

The live trap would serve as a cage, as it was huge, specifically made with gigantic grizzlies in mind. It was a simple design, made out of a single metal tube secured to a trailer. At both ends was a square gate with bars that could be lifted but locked into place when they dropped. He would not be able to stand all the way up in it, but he would never escape. Liana backed the Jeep all the way up to one end of the cage, and she got out to raise the door and open the back of the vehicle.

She began to shove him into the cage, but as she looked down at him, she paused again. Her hands went to the straps to his other armor pieces, taking them off. She didn't want him banging around in the cage with metal, and it would make it easier to shoot him with a tranquilizer without all of the armor blocking her shots. If he was anything like a bear, when he recovered and woke up, he would be scared and angry. She worried that she might have to tranquilize him incase he got to rough and hurt himself before he was fully healed. Liana didn't want him left with any weapons either, so she removed the other things on him too.

Though she couldn't identify all of the objects as weapons or otherwise, she removed all of the metal from his body except the two things on his wrists and his mask. The one wrist gauntlet she had fiddled with for several minutes to no avail. She considered putting a chainsaw to it, but knew that was reckless. It didn't look like a weapon anyway, with a sort of flat screen on the top. The other wrist gauntlet however, she had her suspicions about. Just when she was about to give up, a sort of lever on the back clicked and the whole thing loosened enough on his arm so she could slide it off. When she tried to do the same with the other wrist gauntlet it didn't work, so she left that one alone.

There was still a black mesh around his torso and legs though, like thickly coated wires. She couldn't imagine what it was for, but it was underneath the rest of his clothes, the leather straps and jewelry, so she decided to leave it on him or else she would have to completely undress him. After all the work she had already done, it seemed like a daunting task. Liana shoved at his body, trying to be as gentle as possible, but pretty much just ended up dumping his body into the cage. She checked his bandages quickly, and then slammed the door down, hearing it latch.

She stood and stared into the cage, so many questions racing around in her head. She knew she should wait until he was fully healed to go poking around, so her mind wandered back to the fact that his blood was vibrantly green. Human blood was red because it was technically rusting in our veins and helped carry oxygen, which also gave human blood its iron taste. If his blood worked in the same way, copper turned green as it oxidized, and high contents of it in his blood could have something to do with the color then. Still, she knew better.

His blood was not only green, but a glowing green. As well, there were some animals on earth with green blood already, and it was not due to copper in their blood. And hemocyanin in some mollusks and arthropods contained copper, but the way it reacted in their body turned the blood in their oxygenated arteries blue, and in their veins it was clear and colorless-and in no way green. She was at a loss as to why his blood looked so radioactive, and only wished she had a sample to look at under a microscope.

Liana didn't have a sample of it though, and he had already lost way too much blood already. It was a miracle he was still alive. She went and fetched her notebook, and would have to content herself to documenting his physical features for now. However, as she brought the pencil to the paper, that odd sort of calm came over her, like when she watched bears. Instead of jotting down his characteristics, she was compelled to draw him.


	3. Chapter 3

She didn't bother to move the Jeep back, and instead flopped down on her stomach on the open tailgate to stare in at him. Her sketch could not capture the color of his skin, which was slightly green tinted over a dark flesh tone, but she could draw the defined lines of his musculature, and the mottling of darker spots on his skin. She tried to draw it exactly, noting the concentration of black spotting around his neck and shoulders, in the grooves of his abdominal muscles, and down the outsides of his legs. At a glance, it sort of looked like mold, but upon closer inspection it looked reptilian. It was pebbled, like tough lizard skin.

He had very small black spikes near the top of his forearms, and a short patch between his pecs. Three aeneous rings entrapped his neck and shinier brass bands were on the thick fleshy strands that grew from his head like hair. His hair like dreads were such a dark grey they almost looked black, and tapered to a point. The mask on his face was smooth and silver, except for some of the markings etched into it. His loincloth cover went to a point, the ends tattered. Liana looked at her drawing, at the mask she'd drawn, wishing she could remember his face enough to draw it correctly. She couldn't even remember the color of its eyes.

She put her notebook away, and checked the cage again before she left. She still had traps to check and bait, and the alien needed rest without her poking around at it. Liana tried not to, but found herself rushing through her work. Her fast routine had quickly become boring knowing she had an alien waiting for her at home. It was the first day she begged for all the traps to be empty. She got her work done an hour and a half earlier than usual. She was excited to see how he was doing, and if he had moved.

She put away her stuff in a rush, and peeked into the cage eagerly, only to find that the alien was in the same exact place as she'd left it. A pang of guilt and disappoint twisted in her gut, thinking it might be dead. If it had just been shot and moved enough to lift its shoulders against a tree, she would have thought that it would have moved again by now. She stared at his chest, finding no sign of life, but that did not surprise her. She debated the safety considerations of going into the cage to check on him.

Tranquilizing him in the condition he was, was a bad idea. Going in without knowing how sedated he was, was dangerous. She could be killed or he could escape. But if she didn't check in him, he could die. With that last thought on her mind, she went into the house, grabbed a bottle of water, and more of her supplies. She tied the thick wire cord she used for snare traps to the back cage door. Then, she opened the front of the cage and tiptoed past him to grab the other end if the wire and put a noose around his ankle. He didn't stir.

She slipped the bag off her shoulder then, and proceeded to check his pulse and breathing, which were both slow, at least compared to a human. She undid his bandages, and checked his wounds, amazed at how quickly they were healing when he hadn't moved, and she put new bandages around him. Feeling more comfortable with him, Liana took off her gloves and allowed her palms to slide over his skin.

The feel was unique and excited her. To discover a new species in the rainforest or on an island had always been a passion of hers. The idea of studying what no one knew about, and to give it a name had always been her dream. She moved her fingers to its mask, wondering what she was going to name him. Liana removed the metal mask, and couldn't help but flinch, but forced her eyes to keep looking. At first glance, what looked like creepy fang-tipped fingers over a pink cavernous mouth frightened her. But, as she started to study it, she became more comfortable.

It did not have lips or much of a mouth really, as the pink fleshy insides led strait to its throat with no room to hold food in and chew it, and no rows of teeth to chew it with. On its maxilla was two thick tusks like canine teeth, with no teeth in between, only slick pink gums. On its jaw was the same, but with four short pointed teeth in between. This pattern reminded her of predators, like the front of a lions jaws, which were meant for tearing into meat.

In front of its jaws then were four extra mandible parts, two on top, and two on the bottom. And these, she didn't know what they were for. Liana stared at them for a moment, puzzled, before getting back to work. She sat down in the cage, and as gently as she could, she pulled his shoulders up on her leg and held up his heavy head. His dreads distracted her for a second as her mind reveled in how soft they were, and then she unscrewed the cap to the water bottle and began to pour some in. She only wished she knew what it ate, so she could blend up some food and feed him. He was going to need the nutrients to heal.

Just before the bottle was emptied, she felt his muscles tighten, and she didn't have time to move before he did. With surprising speed and strength for something had had been shot twice, he flipped over and the arm with the wrist gauntlet shot out to her. Liana froze as his fingers wrapped around her throat-The best thing to when a bear attacked, if you were unarmed, was to stay still. His mask hovered in front of her, and then turned to the device on his wrist. His other hand lifted to the screen on top and began touching it, red symbols appearing, and she was suddenly terrified.

The wrist gauntlet could have been anything. It could be a weapon, a bomb, a way to contact more of his kind, or a way to erase her memory. She should have tried harder to get it off him, and so she punched him right in the chest where he was wounded. It was a cheap shot, but might have well saved her life, as he fell onto his back and his fingers left her throat. With a racing heart, she tried again to get the device off. There had to be a button, a code, a latch, or something. Liana tied his wrists together and his legs together and worked at it for an hour before she finally found a way to remove it.

Pissed off and yet relieved, she untied him and closed the cage. She took the wrist gauntlet and all of his other things into the house with her and began to catalogue them. The boots she had taken from him were of unique design of course, but didn't seem to hold any secrets. But after minutes of playing she finally got the one wrist gauntlet to do something, and she seemed to realize what sort of alien she was truly dealing with. Two ornate serrated blades jutted out from the device. They were lightweight and incredibly sharp-She tested them on her dining room table on a whim and ended up punching holes through the top like it was paper.

Except for the things she couldn't figure out, everything she had taken off him proved to be a weapon of some sort. In a circular case like a compass, she found weapons like chinese throwing stars. The short stick she'd taken off his back turned out to be a huge collapsable spear. The piece that had been attached uptop his shoulder was a sort of small cannon. There was a gun, and she wasn't about to fire it to see what it shot. The strange disc thing with fingers holes she'd taken from the holster on his leg appeared to be a weapon as well, for chopping down brush like a machete or maybe taking off heads.

One case opened up to reveal several small metal tools, and her guess was a quick repair kit for his equipment or maybe a medical kit, but it also could have been a weapon. The wrist gauntlet with the screen on top seemed to be a sort of computer, but might have also been a sort of more advanced weapon, there was just no way for her to know. One thing was for sure, he did not come to this planet unprepared. She wrote down her findings, then placed the items in labeled bags, and hid them in a box in her garage.

She rubbed her neck from the stress of it all, but found that her skin stung a little and went to stand in front of the bathroom mirror. As she looked, she noticed the tiny little red scratches on the sides of her neck that his claws had left. They were nothing really, but they angered her anyway. She had to start treating him like the danger he was, as if there was a grizzly bear in that cage, and follow more safety precautions. If he had come to her armed, she would go to him armed.

She put on her belt with the Glock 20, attached a taser and handcuffs to the belt, stuffed pepper spray in her back pocket, and loaded her tranquilizer gun. It was almost dark out, but she wasn't about to leave him in there with that strange netting around him if she didn't know what it did. Liana marched back to the cage and her hands immediately went to grab the metal to unlock it, but her heart skipped a beat. She stared into an empty cage.

"No...There's no way…" She lifted the cage door.

Something hit her hard in the chest, sending her to the ground with the wind knocked out of her. She tried to stand back up, but weight was on her arms like someone was pinning her down. She stared at the emptiness above her, her chest heaving and heart racing. She'd set down the tranquilizer gun to open the cage door and with her arms held down she couldn't reach for any of the other weapons. She'd punched him in the chest, which made his bandages bleed some, and that was the only indication that he was over her. Tiny drops of fluorescent green blood stained her shirt.

She kicked her legs in the dirt, "Get off of me!"

A low growl emanated from him, and she could feel the vibrations from it through her chest. Blue waves of electricity sparked around him before she was granted the sight of him above her. He was too heavy to try and roll over, and she couldn't headbutt him with that mask on. Out of options, she turned her head and bit down onto his arm as hard as she could. He immediately tore his arm away before she could draw blood. And before she could swing at him he held her wrists down with one hand as the other wrapped around her throat.

She was smaller than him, and she would have to use that to her advantage. Using his hold on her wrists as an anchor, she tried to pull herself up as she tilted her hips. The pressure on her neck brought tears to her eyes, but she was small enough that she was able to slip a leg under him. She would not fight fair. She shoved her boot right in his groin, and the more he lifted his hips away, the more she could squirm. With one good yank, one wrist slipped from his grip.

He straightened his arms so she could not get near his neck, but the farther he was from her the easier it was to roll his weight off of her. Her boot shoved at the ground and she strained to get out from under him as her fingers pried at her neck to release some pressure. Without her boot shoving him away he let his hips drop onto her, and he was still just too heavy. She moved her fingers away from his grip on her neck, and instead reached to his chest where there he was wounded.

Her fingers dug into the bandages and his hand left her neck to force her hand away. She began to thrash and squirm under him violently, feeling his strength fading. A kick to his leg finally got him to drop and she was able to roll him over so she could escape. Her hand went straight for her belt and she whipped out the taser. Pressing it to his belly she clicked the button, causing his back to arch off from the ground as his muscles spasmed. All at once, he seemed done, energy spent and unable to move.

Liana quickly handcuffed his wrists, and tied his legs, and worked to stuff him back into the cage using the two-by-fours and rope. Then, she worked to undress him, undoing all the straps to the weapon holsters and removed the netting from his body. She debated for a moment, but took off his metal mask too, knowing she would have to stay and watch him to make sure he could breath ok. The last thing she removed was his loincloth cover, leaving him utterly naked lying on the metal of the cage.

She untied his legs and cautiously undid the handcuffs, ready to tase him again, but he merely growled. As she began to back away, she met his eyes. They were small, sunken into his skull more than usual, and thickly rimmed with black, but were strikingly beautiful. They were amber colored, an intense yellow-orange. They stared into her with hate and loathing.

She hopped out and slammed the gate closed, "Yea, fuck you too buddy."

After twenty minutes passed and he didn't seem to have difficulty breathing, she left. Liana felt a pang of guilt though, and thought about giving him a blanket or something. She had taken everything, even the rings around his neck and left him there probably feeling trapped and vulnerable. He was wounded on a foreign planet, naked, and in a rusty metal cage. Trying not to pity him, she brought his stuff into her house and cataloged the items as she had with the rest of it, and then tried to get some sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

In the morning, she stared into the bathroom mirror, her fingers gripping the edge of the sink with anger. Dark purple and green blotches cuffed her neck where his hand had been. Liana tried to cover it up with makeup but soon gave up and flung a scarf around her neck to hide the bruising, and headed into town. She didn't have time in the morning to go check on him, as she had to go collect more bait for traps. Plus, she was mad at him, and did not want to see him after he had tried to choke her.

When found a deer on the side of the road that had been hit by a car, she pulled over and went to the back of the jeep to pull out a plastic tarp. She laid it out onto the side of the road, put on her gloves, and drug the deer on top of it and folded the tarp up as best she could, trying not to spill any guts. A hundred pound deer she was used to handling, and managed to haul it up into the Jeep pretty quickly. She would definitely be washing out the back of the vehicle later though. After picking up butcher leftovers, she then got to work on the traps.

When she was done with traps and bears for the day, she dropped off extra bait back at the house and washed the Jeep. She was tempted for a second to check on him, but she felt like she needed a shower and still had stuff to do. She washed up and then went back into town for groceries. At the store however, she was forced to think about the alien, and she had been avoiding thoughts of him all day. But he needed to eat. She hadn't a clue what he would want, except maybe meat.

She bought a little of everything, so she could test what he liked. Different meats including seafood, fruit, vegetables, bread, dairy products, and random items like chocolate, candy, peanut butter, and such she tossed into the cart along with her usual items. Back home, she put tiny pieces of everything on a tray and carried it to the cage.

Liana was sort of assuming that he would be invisible, but he was not. Either he didn't want to play that game again, or the mesh/mask/wrist gauntlet had allowed him to become invisible, and she'd taken that away. She had all her weapons on her, but didn't intend in opening the cage, as there was a thin slot at the bottom she could push food and water dishes through. The alien was slumped up against the side of the metal tube, and turned to stare at her as she slid the tray inside, but didn't budge.

"Food." She prompted, even though he probably could not understand her.

When he simply stared at it, she began to think she might have to sedate and feed him. However, she tried to be patient, and waited. After a few minutes, he slowly moved over and looked down at the items. He plucked up a piece of bacon first, seeming to smell the air even though he didn't have a nose, and then lifted it to his mouth. His insect-like mandibles took the piece from his hand and stuffed it down his throat. Like a bird or a snake, he didn't seem to chew. She quickly wrote down in her notebook his choices in order, assuming they were a preference.

A bit of uncooked meat patty was next, and then the cooked piece, then onto the other meats and finally the shrimp and crab legs disappeared down his throat. Meat was definitely a favorite.

He picked up two bits of chocolate, examining both, and then a long snake-like tongue that ended in a thin point reached out to lick each. He ate the dark chocolate, then the milk chocolate, but the other really sugary candy he didn't touch. All the fruit was a yes, but he didn't touch the vegetables whatsoever. What was left on the tray, he picked up in his fist and chucked at her through the bars.

She sucked in a surprised breath at being pelted with all of it, and looked down at her food-covered notebook. Butter and ice cream dripped off the spirals and she lifted her hand to sweep a chunk of fresh broccoli off the page. Then, she met his gaze.

He splayed out his mandibles at her, and stared her down.

An abundance of curse words lifted to the front off her mind, but she held her temper in check. She picked the bits of cheese and pasta from her hair, then spun away from the cage and jumped in the Jeep to go back into town. Now she knew what to feed him, but not how much he ate, and she was curious to find out. Back at the grocery store, she bought pounds and pounds of uncooked hamburger meat. Everyone in town already thought she was weird, so she wasn't questioned. As she pushed the cart towards the checkout however, her eyes caught sight of the spices. Most notably a small container of ghost pepper powder.

On the Scoville organoleptic test, which measures pepper hotness, the ghost pepper was one of the most pungent in the world. She picked up the container, rolling it around in her hand, evil ideas flooding into her mind. She would get even with him for throwing food at her. Liana bought the meat, and the powdered peppers. Back at the house, she mixed a small batch of raw meat with the spice and slid it into the cage with him. She wasn't sure if he would still be hungry, or if he could smell the pepper. She stood to the side of the cage though, waiting for him to throw it at her. Liana eagerly watched him, trying to keep an evil smile off her face as he moved to look down at the tray. His hand dug in and he swallowed a whole big bite of the stuff and went for more-but then froze. She could almost read his thoughts and feel that heat creeping up his throat.

His hand went to his neck for a second, then his yellow-orange eyes flickered to her. She couldn't help but utter a small giggle. He quickly lifted the tray up and slammed it against the bars violently, meat shooting out onto the ground as she jumped away. His hands became tight fists at his sides, and the way his mandibles kept twitching she knew it was still burning, if not getting increasingly hot.

"Is your mouth on fire?" She teased.

His amber eyes narrowed, and he picked up the food tray and began to bend and warp it. Her eyebrows shot up, watching him, shocked at how easy he made it look-like he was wadding up a piece of paper. He crushed it into a loose ball and threw it behind him. It crashed into the back of the cage, rattling the bars, then he roared. The volume surprised her, and she quickly covered her ears though that did not help much. She could very much still hear his roar as much as she could feel the pain and pressure inside her ears. Liana stumbled away, trying to escape it, and birds in nearby trees took off into the sky.

When he finally stopped, she stared and blinked at him, her ears ringing. His mandibles were splayed out at her and his jaw was dropped, showing off his sharp teeth.

She let her hands drop from her ears cautiously, "Holy shit…"

His fist hit the metal bars then, and he growled at her.

"Hey, if you throw food at me again, that spicy meat will be the only food you'll get." She threatened.

His mandibles still twitching, his mouth probably still burning, he turned away from her and sat down. Liana stood there, but suddenly felt horrible and retrieved a water bottle. She slid it through the bars, and watched his eyes light up as he spotted it. He quickly snatched it up and bit through the plastic to drink it down. When it was empty, she offered him another. Then, she brought out some more meat, untainted, and slid a new tray in with him.

He was suspicious, of course, licking the meat and smelling it before he began to dig in. He ate all of it, and then shoved the tray back out of the cage, sending it tumbling to the ground. His eyes watched her, and she could only assume he wanted more. She brought back another pile, keeping track of the weights of each serving so she could write down how much he consumed at a single meal, and gave it to him. He ate it all, and slid the tray out again. Liana brought him tray after tray until he refused it. Even for his large body size, she was surprised at how much he ate at a sitting. She was going to need to buy a lot more meat.

It was dark out by then, the sun having just tucked itself under the horizon, but she didn't feel like going inside just yet. Instead, Liana found a camping chair and set it up in front of him, and then set a dim lamp on the ground in front of the cage. She brought out her notebook again, and began to draw his facial features. She found herself less interested in drawing him then just simply watching him though.

He was sort of cat-like in ways. He seemed very alert, like he could hear every little sound even though he didn't have ears. He turned his head sharply at different sounds, intently listening like he was trying to figure out what they came from. Every time a new insect call started or a critter made noise in the surrounding trees he seemed interested in it. And even though he was cramped in a cage he couldn't even stand all the way up in, he seemed very springy and flexible, moving around quickly in the cramped space. Like a cat as well, he seemed easily agitated.

Liana watched him pace around in the cage for a while, testing the doors occasionally and looking around at the hardware of it before he was distracted by the sound of chattering raccoons and stopped to listen. When it stopped, he began to examine the lock of the cage as his chest pulsed with a low vibrating growl. She shook her head at him. He didn't seem to have any intention of ever going to sleep.

Her mind was filled with questions as she continued to watch him, wondering his age, what his hair was for, and how he had arrived here. Trying to find a crashed space ship in the vastness of these woods was a task she wasnt ready to endeavour. Yet, it would be an astonishing thing to discover. All living things on earth are composed up of 20 different amino acids, which are the building blocks of life, and yet there have been meteorites that crashed into Earth that carried 80 different amino acids. Different amino acids meant the possibility of different life out there somewhere.

Well, she had found something different. He sat down and begin to scratch the side of the metal cage with his sharp black nails, tiny bits of orange rust flaking off as he did. Liana went into the house and grabbed the comforter off her bed, and hauled it outside. He might just rip it up in her face and throw the fluff around, but she began to feed it through the bars anyway. He turned to her, his tusks clicking together like he was thinking about something, but he took the blanket.

He shoved the crushed metal tray and empty water bottles away and wadded up the blanket at the back of the cage and sat down. He leaned his back against the gate, and his eyes looked up through the bars at the dark blue sky and bright stars. Liana found her head tilting up to the sky as well, immediately naming off constellations in her head before she was able just to stare up and admire their beauty.

Instead of questions arising about his physiology, she found herself wondering if he had a family out there. She wondered if he would be missed. She wondered if he had a name, and what it was. Liana felt more guilt wash over her, wondering if she turned him into a government agency if he would be dissected. She looked down at her notepad though, knowing everything she had documented would be useless garble without him as proof.


	5. Chapter 5

All throughout the day, she debated what to do with him. If she didn't give him up to some government agency, then what? If she just let him go, it could be suicide. He would kill her, and enjoy it. Then if he _had _crashed here, he would be stranded on Earth to cause havoc. On the other hand, giving him up might get him dissected and experimented on. She definitely wouldn't be giving them his weapons. She would have to destroy them somehow. But if she did decide to turn him in, who was she going to call? It wasn't like there was an alien hotline for the government.

She was so consumed with thoughts of him that when she went to shoot her tranq gun she stepped within the circle of death, within reach of a bear. It was a big female black bear, and decided to charge at her. Liana stumbled back, and scrambled away as the bear swung a paw at her. If the noose hadn't been around its other front paw, it probably would have succeeded in tearing through her jeans into her leg. Liana took deep breaths, and forced herself to focus on her job.

With a pile of meat on a tray, she went to stand in front of the cage. He was just lying there on his back, but as soon as she slid the tray inside he jumped and moved over to look at what she had brought. Her mind was distracted for a moment, wondering if he had a higher blood pressure, as sitting up and moving that fast would have made any human dizzy, but didn't seem to affect him. He slid the tray back out however, and she had to catch it before it fell to the ground.

"Not hungry?" She questioned.

He stared at her, not moving away from the door like he was expecting something. She offered him a water bottle instead, but he didn't take it. She looked up at him, his mandibles tucked tight against his mouth. His hands gripped the metal bars of the door.

"You want out, don't you?"

He just kept staring at her.

"Do you have a name?" When he didn't answer, she asked, "What's your name?"

He started to tilt his head to the side and she knew he wasn't grasping the words. She had to go for the caveman approach.

She gestured down the length of herself, "Lee-ah-nah." She said it again, "Liana." and then she gestured to him. She did this over and over until he turned away.

Without lips or a tongue like hers she figured that he might not be able to talk, though like a bird she was hoping he could still make sounds despite all odds. He seemed intelligent enough to understand what she wanted, but figured she could test just how smart he was. Liana went to the store and bought all sorts of toys. She wouldn't bother with animal-intelligence experiments, the Krushinsky problem, or mirror tests, knowing they would all be too easy-but a rubix cube might keep him busy.

She held up a wooden puzzle in front of him, making sure he was observing its special shape, and then took it apart and put it on a clean tray to slide in the cage. She held her phone in her hand for a timer, and then would try out the puzzles on herself for a control. He stared down at it, then shoved the tray back out. Determined, she shoved the tray back in. He shoved it out more forcefully, wooden pieces bouncing to the ground.

Liana would not be discouraged, and went into the garage. She dug through the boxes and bags of his things and picked out just one of his greenish brass rings she had taken from his neck. She held it up for him to see and then slid the tray with the puzzle in the cage again. He flopped down, and drug the tray closer. After a moment of staring at the various pieces, he put the puzzle back together in under five seconds, and slid the tray at her.

Impressed, she grabbed the tray and slid his jewelry to him. He snatched the ring right up and snapped it around his neck. Liana opened the box to the next puzzle, a little plastic orb with an obstacle course inside that you had to tilt and jiggle to get the marble where you wanted it. She dropped it through the bars. He stared at her.

"Puzzle." She prompted.

His handed lifted to his neck to touch the ring. She huffed and went back into the garage to get the box and brought it to him. She lifted one of the rings up, and waited for him to try the puzzle. He still stood there staring at her. Liana lifted up the second ring to his set and he finally picked up the orb. He finished it quickly and she gave him back the jewelry.

They kept doing trade offs, doing a labyrinth maze for his loincloth cover. He did a brain teaser, getting apart little misshapen metal pieces, for the metal bands that went in his hair. She handed him a rubix cube, and he accomplished that for a bracelet what looked like hemp string and various animal teeth woven together. But then when she tried to hand him another puzzle, offering his brown leather belt without the weapon holsters attached, he pointed to his forearm. She shook the belt at him and slid the puzzle inside the cage, but he tapped his forearm again.

He wanted a wrist gauntlet. Just to tease him, she held both of them up, and he quickly solved the puzzle. She brought them closer to the cage, thinking he would reach for the one with the wrist blades, but his hand reached for the other one that was like a computer. She couldn't give it to him. Liana set both the gauntlets back in the box and offered the belt again.

He came unglued. He kicked the puzzle out of the cage and grabbed the empty water bottles to throw them at her too. When she wasn't affected, he jumped onto the cage door like a wild animal. She stumbled back as he began to rattle the cage door. He pointed down at the box. When she shook her head, he began to roar.

Liana couldn't stand that horrid noise and immediately ran from it, though she could still hear him inside the house. When he stopped, she went back out to him, but his intense amber eyes locked onto her, his mandibles splayed and he began to roar again, the sound as loud and booming as a lions. She left to go get her earplugs and earmuffs, then returned to him still as angry as ever. When the noise didn't get her to leave, he changed his tactics.

His fist connected with the cage door, and then he turned to the side of the cage and began to pound away at the metal as though he would actually be capable of punching a hole through it. The whole cage rumbled and echoed his blows, rust covered his knuckles, but it was not about to give. He returned to the door, gripping his thick hands around the bars to try and pry them open. He shook and rattled them, punched and pulled on them to no avail.

Trapped and out of options, he kicked at the metal door over and over. Liana stared at him, waiting for him to spend his energy, but his fury only continued. His dark grey dreads swung around as he moved. She could see the exact lines and cords of his muscles as he tensed. He snatched up the crushed metal tray he'd made into a ball with and began to throttle it to the bottom of the cage like an ape trying to crush something with a that accomplished nothing, he began to ram his body into the bars.

His shoulder slammed into the metal repeatedly, and every time he only backed up as far as he could and then ran towards the door to do it again. Liana noticed the bright green blood oozing from the bandages around his neck and knew she had to stop him before he hurt himself. Sedatives were still not a great idea, but she would have no choice if he didn't stop. She eyed the garden hose first however, and thought she'd give it a try.

She turned on the cold water and drug the end of the hose to the cage, and began to spray him off. At first he didn't seem to mind it, but then he kept trying to avoid being sprayed-ducking and squirming from the waters jet. She kept the freezing cold water on him, even spraying him right in the face until his movements slowed and he dropped. His back slumped against the soggy comforter and he was finally still.

Liana worked quickly, going to the back of the cage and pulled the end of the blanket, effectively dragging him closer. She looped wire under his arms to tie him to the back of the cage door and then sprinted to the front with her supply bag over her shoulder. With the taser in her hand she tied his ankles together, and then his wrists to the cage door. As fast as she could while his strength was gone, she cleaned his wounds and bandaged him up again. His muscles barely twitched, but his eyes watched her the entire time.

Her fingers lingered on his neck, then moved up to the side of his face, admiring his features now even with his eyes glaring at her with boiling hate. She brushed her hand across the tiny black spikes above his eyes, not having realized they were there before instead of eyebrows. A growl vibrated his chest. She almost removed her hands, but was suddenly concerned about his temperature.

When she had touched him before, he had always been very warm, odd for such a reptilian looking creature. Even having been doused in such cold water, his overall body temp should not have been so low, unless his body really did lack sufficient energy enough to create its own heat. His wounds were healing fast, probably taking a lot of energy away from him, but something made her think otherwise. Her guess was that he was cold blooded, but she couldn't be sure until she could test out that wire mesh he had been wearing and took his temperature once he was dry again.

Once his arms began to strain against the wire that held him, she decided it was time to get out of there. She untied his ankles, grabbed the broken tray, and hopped out of the cage and shut the door. Around the back of the cage, she removed the cord around his arms and untied his wrists from the outside.

She waited for him to move, and then she took out the wet comforter from between the bars and washed and dried it. When she tried to give it back, he ripped it up into a ton of small pieces and began to throw the white fluff around like a crazy person. When she offered him water, he charged at her, claws trying to grab her hand. She offered him chocolate, but he threw it right back out at her.

Liana gave up, put the box of his stuff back in the garage, set up a chair, and began to watch him again. As he paced around, she began to do all of the puzzles herself, but didn't even bother to try the rubix cube. She knew she would never finish that one. He continued to pace and throw bits of cloth at her. She ate her dinner outside when it got dark, and distracted with food and mosquitos she wasn't paying any attention to the alien.

She had thought he had run out of things to throw, but some sort of wet sludge hit her half-empty plate and splashed up on her face. She immediately stood with an angry huff. Whatever it was, smelled like shit. She wiped her face with her hand and stared down at the yellowish paste and brown chunks on the plate. She grimaced at it, as it looked like a giant bird had just defecate on her food.

A bit of it that was on her hand, she rubbed between her fingers, feeling its gritty texture. It was like bird droppings or snake poop-the thick brown chunks and then the paste-like urates instead of liquid urine like humans. Her eyes widened at the realization.

"You just threw your shit at me!" She dropped the plate to the ground and wiped her face off with her shirt before continuing, "I can't believe you just fucking did that!"

He was still standing right in front of the cage door, and without breaking eye contact, he wiped his hand on the side of the cage carelessly.

"You disgusting animal!" She wiped her own hands off on her jeans, knowing she'd have to wash the clothes and take another shower. "I should spray you with the hose again!"

To that, he took off his loincloth and began to thrust his hips against the cage, his over-sized member wiggling outside the bars between his legs.

Liana jerked her head away from such a brutish sight, "You are so fucking gross!"

She grabbed her medical supply bag, but left her plate and the chair there, not wanting to look at an alien humping cage bars. She knew he was doing it to drive her away, but it worked nonetheless. She would deal with him and clean up the mess tomorrow.

When she was a good distance away she swiveled around to yell one more thing at him, "I cant wait until the government gets their hands on you! They'll have some fun! You'll be stuffed in a box in District Nine, dissected by the National Security Agency, or maybe Weyland Industries will want to experiment on you!"

Liana stormed off into the house, wanting to rip up and throw things herself. This was not going well. She angrily threw her clothes to the ground and took a hot shower, her fingers going to her hair, feeling more stressed than ever, but trying not to let him get to her.


	6. Chapter 6

She expected another fight after she finished work, and her body had been tense the entire day. She hated kids for their gross behavior, loud noises, and the way they threw things around. Liana refused to babysit anyones kids for more than a couple minutes. Now, she had a giant pissed off alien to watch. Her life had quickly turned miserable-though not as much as his had, she supposed.

After what he had done last night, she wasn't about to give him any chances to do it again. She grabbed her gun and loaded it, then walked around to the back of the house to the bear trap cage. She lifted up the gun, aiming as she stepped in front of the bars, and exhaled slowly as she shot him. He jumped up with a ferocious growl and advanced towards her. When he stumbled, his eyes looked down at his body where the tranq dart was still stuck in his skin.

His took it out, his amber eyes looking down at it like he didn't know what it was. From his crouched position, he dropped to his knees. He lifted his head to look at her, then back to the dart in his hand before he fell to his back. Liana felt bad about what she was about to do to him, especially after he didn't seem to understand what he'd been shot with. He probably deserved it after acting so naughty, but she still felt bad.

Nevertheless, she proceeded to unlock the gate once she presumed he was fully sedated and climbed into the cage with him. The sedative she had given him was not one that would knock him unconscious. He would still very much be able to see her and feel her touching him. It was good when dealing with bears because it would make them fear humans, and then stay away from traps that smelled of humans. Otherwise, bears would be unconscious for her probing, and wake up every time with a full stomach. Some of the young, silly bears would then keep going to the traps for free food.

For him though, she doubted it would make him fear her, and instead would just make him angry. Liana shoved at his body, sliding him to the back of the cage door, and tied his wrists to it. Even sedated, she didn't trust him. He was getting stronger every day, and didn't know how long he'd be under the influence of the sedative. Then, she unzipped her bag and put on her gloves.

First, she did a full body physical examination. She ran her hands up and down his arms, feeling the grouping of muscle, and the bones which were so similar to a humans anatomy. She counted his ribs. She probed at his mouth, checking his teeth, and testing the movements of those four strange mandibles. His yellow-orange eyes did not move to follow her, but she knew he was watching. Liana checked his eyes, shined a flashlight on them to test their dilation response, which was incredibly fast.

Most reptiles have a three chambered heart, while warm-blooded animals have four chambers, and she listened to his heart beats to try and determine which he had. She wrote down her observations, that he had a four chambered heart like an alligator, which was also a cold blooded animal. Then, her curiosity lured her eyes to the spines on his face, shoulders, and chest. Liana dug through her bag, and retrieved the clippers.

Liana bent some of the spines, testing them, trying to figure out what they were. They were not hard like bone, but seemed more like keratin. She cut off one of his black spines from his shoulder, and placed it in a little baggie to examine later. Leaning over him, she began to feel his odd dreads. They were so soft and smooth, bendable, but thick and fleshy. She lifted the clippers up to one, wanting a sample, but paused, unsure.

She moved the clippers to the very end of his hair, and snipped off the tip of it. Immediately, she regretted it. It began to bleed more of that radioactive-looking green blood of his. Liana quickly bandaged him up. She wanted a sample of his blood, but she didn't have any heparin or other anticoagulants around the house, so it wouldn't do her any good. Her eyes flickered to his, and she could see the hate in his dark pupils.

"Sorry." she mumbled shamefully.

Liana removed her gloves and her hands returned to his hair though, wondering what its purpose was. It would be a vulnerability if it bled like that, a weak spot, so she was curious as to why evolution had favored it. The thick dreads had to have an advantage. She bent the strands gently, palming them, touching the metal beads he'd put on them, and pulled lightly. Her best guess as this point was that they were some sort of sensory organ-able to detect temperature, chemicals, or something.

When her hands left his hair and went to his chest, she could feel his racing heart. That seemed to be an indication that the sedative was wearing off, as well as some sort of reaction to her touching his hair. She was puzzled, put back on her gloves, and continued her examination of him. She would leave no spot unchecked, and a look at his male genetailia she supposed was next.

With every ounce of professionalism she had, she folded his loincloth up over his stomach to peek down at his male anatomy. Her composure was quickly lost however, as she looked down at it, thinking it somehow looked bigger than before. Feeling quite awkward, but curious, but trying to be professional, she touched him.

There was a slight warmth under her palm and his penis seemed less flaccid, which was why it looked somewhat bigger. She chewed on her lower lip, feeling increasingly nervous, and looked up at him.

"You better not be enjoying this."

There were interesting, tiny little pores on the side of his penis in a line, so small she had almost missed them. She wondered if they would excrete a lubricant for sex, like the female anatomy, but since they were so tiny, and were so few of them, she assumed it would only be a small amount of fluid. As she examined them, his penis lost its blood flow, returning to its fully flaccid state. She was relieved of that, but also curious about it. What had made blood flow there in the first place?

Liana knew she was running out of time with the sedative, but her hands delved into his hair, groping at the strands as she had been doing before. She lightly pulled on them as her eyes watched his penis begin to twitch up and engorge with blood. Her cheeks flushed red, embarrassed, but she was also proud that she figured out what his hair was for. It was a different sensory organ all together, though in its entirety or if it had other functions she didn't know.

She quickly packed up her samples and tools, untied him, and injected him with the reversal agent for the sedative. When he woke up, she didn't wait to see if he would flip out, and simply turned the hose on him. She sprayed the inside of the cage to clean off the shit he'd wiped on the side, and sprayed him off as well. The cold water keeping him calm only because it took away his heat, the energy for his muscles. Liana cleaned up the plate, the fecal matter, food, and comforter pieces from around the cage. Then, she put away the chair as well.

In the house, she typed in all the data, and her assumptions about him into her computer. She catalogued her samples she'd taken and put them in the box in the garage. Then, she sat down at the table to eat her dinner she'd microwaved. Her mind was more consumed with thoughts of the alien than her food however.

She tried to keep her thoughts neutral, focused on the differences of his body like the fact that he didn't have nipples. She had always kinda liked guy nipples. Her thoughts began to venture more towards the sexual side of things. With the combination urates and fecal matter like a bird or snake that he produced, his penis must have been reserved for only sex-unlike human males which also pee from that organ. Thus, he had that male anatomy for sex alone, plus the erogenous zone that all those thick dreads created. He was shaping up to be a very sexual being.

Against her will, her imagination began to create scenarios in her head, picturing such an alien when it was procreating. A lump began to form in her throat at just the thoughts of his eight-foot muscular form with that large cock hard and erect. Her thoughts deviated though, to his sharp black claws and those pointed tusks. With those characteristics combined with his muscular body and the lubricating pores on his penis, her mind came to the conclusion that he was a rapist.

It was a shrewd thought perhaps, but did make some sense. He was more than capable of holding someone down, whether the females of his race were stronger or weaker. If the females had his tough skin, they would be able to hold up against any scratches and bites. Many males were solitary animals on earth, and he seemed to have came here alone, so she could only assume that he lived alone. Like a lion or ape, he could control a harem of females, yet he seemed more like the sneaky type to her.

He would probably sneak up on a nubile female of his species and have his way with her. He was a mean, sneaky, raping alien. Mostly, that assumption just kept any sexy or forgiving thoughts of him from entering in her mind. She honestly didn't have enough information about him to make such a call on his behavior. She went to bed without eating the rest of her diner, and tried not to think about him anymore.

After work the next day, she brought him a tray of meat. She slid it into the cage without looking at him, and left, figuring that if he didn't eat it she would just clean up the mess from the ground. She tried to get some chores done around the house that she had been neglecting, and then returned to the cage after a while. He had eaten the food, and the tray was on the ground. She didn't look at him, grabbed the tray, and headed into the house to get more meat for him, but stopped with her hand on the doorknob.

Thinking about his behaviors, she knew she didn't know a lot. So, her mind came up with a little experiment to test him instead of simply offering him meat. She set up a few tiny snare traps around her property, aiming to catch a rabbit to give to him. She loosely attached big slabs of particle board to the front and back of the cage door to cover up the bottom so it couldn't escape. The first few traps only caught her crazy squirrels that wouldn't work, so she let them go. Then, she caught what she needed.

She grabbed a stool, lifted the rabbit over the wood barrier and dropped it in with the alien. A part of her hoped that he would simply throw the animal back out, but she knew he was not the kind type. A bear would even take the opportunity, as the fast rabbit was now trapped and an easy kill. She watched his head jerk as he spotted the furry rabbit, and she prepared for guts.

He made a new sound, one she had never heard him do before. It was almost like a woodpecker, a tongue-clicking of sorts with an airy rumble. She watched him snatch up the rabbit into his claws and twist its head off its shoulders. Blood gushed over his hands, and he proceeded to rip the fur off of the rabbit, only leaving its feet and tail furry. Like she had thought, his sharp canine-like teeth and the short ones in rows, were perfect for tearing meat off bone.

He made a quick meal out of the rabbit, and then discarded the guts and fur over the particle board. Then, he sat back down with the tendons and bones and began to play with them. He scratched his nails into the leg bones, creating a pattern, tested the strength of the rib bones, and more. None seemed to be of his liking however, and he ended up tossing them out the back cage door one by one. The skull with the big furry ears still attached to the top however, he kept.

He felt the ears, the soft fur, but then tore those off and threw them. He plucked out the eyes and tossed them away as well, and Liana gripped the bars for balance as she stood and watched from the stool. His nails scraped away the remaining meat and connective tendons, and then his pinky nail began to dig out the brains. She was feeling nauseous by then, and didn't want to watch him any longer.

She took off the boards, put back the stool, and cleaned up the pieces of the rabbit. He didn't seem to want food several times a day, but every few days instead. He must have had a slower metabolism, to conserve energy for when he really needed it. When she glanced back at the cage, he was crouched, holding the skull up on his palm, seeming to admire it. He was definitely not a scavenger. He was a hunter.


	7. Chapter 7

The next few days were relatively dull. He did not want to eat, and when she offered him water he opened the bottle only to dump it on her head. She figured that she deserved it. Liana left him alone as much as she could, because when he started to growl, she started to pick on him, then he would start to roar, then she would soak him with cold water. He continued to throw things at her. She would torture him by setting the box of his weapons in front of the cage for him to stare at.

Just when she thought she had everything she needed, more questions and curiosities arose. Soon, she decided to sedate him again. She had gone through his weapons and stuff again, sketching them, and recreating the alien symbols on them. But still, there was always more about him that she wanted to know. She stepped in front of the cage with the gun loaded, she watched his body tense and her finger touched the trigger-but her phone began to ring.

Liana answered it casually, the muzzle of the gun still directed at the alien, but as soon the woman began to talk she was sprinting to her Jeep.

Her heart was racing, "Don't shoot it! Tell your husband not to shoot it. Get outside in your car, or upstairs in a bedroom and lock the door. I'll be right there."

Liana shoved the gun in the seat beside her unsafely, but she was determined to get to that house. A woman had just called her, hysterically yelling about a bear in their house, and that her husband was grabbing his hunting gun. She forced her boot onto the gas pedal and the Jeep jumped forward with the roar of its engine. It was good she already had the tranq gun loaded, and had more ammo on her just in case. She could get to the house on time, before anyone got hurt.

Tranquilizer guns weren't that easy though. In the few seconds it took for the sedative to kick in, an angry bear could charge. And if you didn't give it a big enough dose, it could continue to tear into you. But if you gave it too high of a dose, you'd just kill it. The tranquilizer was loaded for something the aliens size, around two hundred pounds. Liana would be putting herself in danger, going into an enclosed space with a bear, but she would do it to try and save its life.

Her eyes were locked on the street signs, searching for a Windchester Drive. She knew her way around town really well, but newer houses around the outskirts were always being built. Like her old little house, it was right on the edge of the park, with no clear division of their acres from the rest of it. The Jeep came to a halt in front of a pretty white house, and she grabbed the gun and jumped from the vehicle to sprint to the door. A woman stood on the lawn, just to the side of the door, and Liana slowed her footsteps, about to tell the woman to get farther away from the house.

But the woman was just standing there, crying and shaking her head. Liana was suddenly afraid that she was too late, for either the woman's husband or the bear.

Before Liana could ask her anything, the woman said, "Its in the living room."

Liana cautiously pushed open the door and headed inside, keeping her gun aimed and ready. She found the living room easily enough. And when she did, her heart stopped. Among the nice tan furniture, down on the rug, there was a dead bear-a tiny thing, just a cub. She gripped her gun tighter, ready to look for its mother.

A man just stood there casually on the other side of the couch though, holding his rifle in his hand, and Liana had to ask, "Was there a mother? Was there a bigger bear in the house?"

"Naw, the bear's right there." He gestured to the body on the rug with his gun.

"You shot it…" It wasn't really a question, but he answered her anyway.

"Yea, I shot it. Its a bear."

"It's just a cub." She said breathlessly, her mouth feeling thick and her throat tight.

"Ida get bigger when its older. Better get rid of them now."

Even so small, she could tell it was a grizzly, "They're a protected species."

"It was in my house. Self-defense. Am I in trouble miss?" He asked sarcastically.

"No." She spat.

"Then you better get rid that body and leave. I told my wife not to call anyone, that I had it taken care of."

Liana lowered the muzzle of her gun to the floor submissively, and walked back to the Jeep to grab the tarp out of the back. She crouched down, feeling her ribcage crushing in around her as she stared at it. It was so small, just a ball of thick fur, and probably weighed only around ten pounds. Liana probably could have grabbed it by the scruff of its neck and carried it out of the house. Instead, thick red blood pooled under it, soaking into the colorful ornate rug, its eyes were disturbingly still, and a line of blood oozed from its nose.

He'd killed it, and she tried not to hate him for it. Liana rolled the cub onto the tarp, tied it shut, and placed its body in the back of her vehicle. The husband could not be talked to, a gun could solve all of his problems, so she talked to the wife instead. She thanked the woman for calling her, went over the procedures of what to do if she encountered a bear, and made sure she was informed of the bear-proof trash cans. She thanked her again for calling, and then drove back home.

A cub that small should not have been alone. Grizzly cubs didn't leave their mothers until they were three years old. The mother must have died, or the cub must have gotten separated from her and started to wander. In the forest surrounding her home, she solemnly dug a shallow hole, and buried the small cubs body. She cleaned up the tarp afterwards, and then headed inside. However, loud pounding noises on metal reminded her what she had been about to do before she got the call.

After what had just happened, she did not want to deal with him...but, her mind did need the distraction. She grabbed her gun and bag again, and shot him with the tranq dart. He knew what it was this time, and chucked it right back out at her. His small, amber eyes started at her with all his hate. The sedative kicked in quickly enough, and she was in the cage tying his wrists to the back of the door again.

With her gloves on, she dug in her bag for a tape measure and checked his height. She leaned over him, trying to look at his fingers to see if they had a unique pattern, fingerprints, like humans. Liana examined him, trying to answer other questions she'd come up with, but found she didn't really care about any of it. The rest of her questions about his weight, strength, speed, reflexes, age, hearing, and sleep patterns could not be answered by sedating him.

However, she knew he would never submit to tests like that, and found that she wanted to dissect him herself. She would never do it though. And especially now with that bear cub still in her thoughts, she didn't want to see any more death. She slowly continued her examination, not really interested in what she was doing, but kept writing things down. Eventually though, she just sat there beside him.

Liana didn't have anyone else to talk to, she she began to talk to him, "A man shot a bear cub for entering his house, and I had to bury its body." Her throat was thick, her words strangled, but she continued, "It was just a cub, and she shot it anyway."

Of course, he did not talk back, could not even move. She stared down at him, observing the rust on his knuckles, and his jagged nails. Tiny pools of water collected on the bottom of the cage in the ripples of the metal, not having evaporated since the last time she had sprayed him with the hose. The bottom of his feet were dirty, and his soft hair had begun to dry out and crack like chapped lips in the winter. Liana just broke down, her lips quivering, and she began to cry.

She let herself be draped over him, her forehead pressing to his chest, and he was cold against her skin. Her body shook with her sobbing as she took in ragged breaths. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut, but she felt the warm tears push past that barrier easily.

She began to babble, "I don't want you to die either; I don't want anyone else to know about you. I dont know what the government would do to you...But I know I can't keep you like this." Her tears soaked his chest and rolled down his skin, but she couldn't stop crying. Her throat was impossibly tight and her muscles tense but she said, "I can't just let you go now either."

As her nose began to run, she started to snivel, and sobbed, "I never meant to shoot you! You idiot, you came up behind me and I thought you were a bear. I never meant to shoot you, I'm so sorry."

She tried to wipe her tears away, even as they still flowed from her eyes. She still had her face pressed against his chest and she mumbled, "I'm sorry for gropping your...your hair too. I'm so sorry."

Just when she was starting to get control of her hyper breathing and tears began to slow, she said, "But you threw your _shit _at me!" and somehow she started to cry even harder. Tears flowed from her eyes like a dam had broken inside her. Her face was red, her face distraught. Her throat was too thick to talk, so she just made pathetic, muffled whimpers pressed up against his broad chest.

She'd lost track of the minutes, lost track of how long she'd been in the cage with him and how long she had before the sedative would wear off by itself, but the alien suddenly made another noise she had never heard from him before. It was sort of deep and steady purr. It vibrated through her, made her racing thoughts and her tears stop-but she didn't like it.

Abruptly, Liana sat up, shoving her hands at his chest to get away from the oddly calming effect of his purring. She stared at him through blurry vision, small vibrations from his purring still thrumming against her palm. It was strange. It was freaky. But, it was soothing. She felt her shoulders drop and her muscles uncoil. She took in a deep and steadying breath, and lifted her eyes to him.

He was watching her. He was not looking at her with hate or loathing, but it disturbed her nonetheless. She took her hands off him, and the purring instantly faded. She wiped at her eyes, and then untied him. She didn't move immediately, almost wanting to just sit there until he woke up, but she knew that wasnt an option. After all she had done, he would still kill her. She had to go.

Liana injected him with the reversal agent, climbed from the cage, and shut the door. She didn't wait for him to wake before she had left-not to the house or the Jeep though. She needed the fresh air and the release, and so she began to wander around the woods, trying to keep her mind off the possibility of finding his space ship, and her mind off of bears for the time being. She just needed to clear her thoughts.


	8. Chapter 8

That purring had been so odd, so calming, and so unlike a cats purr. Still, she couldn't come up with another name for that noise. He had purred to her when she had cried. She felt a mix of emotions when she thought about that fact. It made her care for him, made her feel bad about keeping him in the cage. Yet, she knew nothing about him as a species, or why he had come to Earth. She could not let herself feel remorseful towards him when he could have come to earth with those weapons to kill.

To keep herself away from the temptation of bringing him blankets, pillows, and hot chocolate, her mind took over again into thoughts of biology and anatomy. He should not be able to roar, as well as purr. Vocal chords were just not made that way. Bigger cats like lions and tigers were capable of booming roars that could be heard from miles away, but it was impossible for them to purr. Smaller cats, like cheetahs and house cats could purr, but were unable to roar. He could do both. The more curiosities she found out about him, she more she felt compelled just to watch him, even though he hated that.

He absolutely did not want her sitting in the chair watching him all the time, and as she brought him a water bottle, she noticed why. The horizontal and vertical bars of the door where were thick, and were inside a metal track that was welded onto the tube that was the trap. The door was heavy and the lock was strong. The only weakness to the cage was a few inch high slot in the middle of the front door that had allowed her to slide the tray in and out. As she approached the cage from the side, she could tell that one of the bars that ended above the slot was bent out slightly.

Everytime she left, he would probably go back to pushing on the bars. He had incredible strength, but Liana knew that he would not escape the cage. She rolled the water bottle to him, only staying to see if he drank any or simply dumped it out to be able to keep track of his water intake. He did not seem interested, and merely rolled it back to her. Liana grabbed the bottle, sort of surprised he hadn't bothered to throw it at her head. But, just he may have been tired after bending that steel bar.

She didn't linger, not wanting to upset him, but went to grab the tranq gun. Liana didn't want to have to sedate him anymore unless absolutely necessary, but she hadn't checked his wounds lately. She didn't know how to get her hands on any antibiotics if his bullet wounds got infected, and she kept getting the bandages wet when she sprayed him with the hose. She stepped back in front of the cage, and aimed the gun.

Her finger was on the tigger, half a second from shooting him before he slowly began to scootch over. She hesitated, and he moved over against the gate and sat down. He looked over at her and slipped his arm through the bars. Liana almost had to do a double-take at such odd behavior. She wasn't sure what he was doing, but he actually appeared to be offering himself to be sedated. Her eyes narrowed at him.

It was a trick. Her mind wouldn't allow herself to believe it was anything else than that. He had seen her cry, had seen her weak, emotional, and now he had a new angle to play. But, she lowered the gun, and set it aside. Liana dug into her bag instead, and pulled out a needle and vial of sedative. She kept looking over at him suspiciously as stuck the needle in the vial, drawing out the proper amount, and then tapped the needle to get out any air. He still watched her, sitting patiently.

Liana didn't trust him, and cautiously brought the needle to his skin, waiting for his arm to snap up and grab her. He did no such thing, and remained utterly still until she injected him and withdrew the needle. Then, he went over to the back of the cage, laying down, and lifted his hands above his head to be tied. She was shocked at such submissive behavior, and horrified as well. She had either broken his spirit, or it was a trap somehow. Still, the sedative worked as it always had, and she climbed inside the cage.

Even knowing that it was misleading behavior, she couldn't help but fall for it. She did not tie his wrists this time. She slipped on her gloves, and unwrapped the bandages, immensely relieved that nothing was infected. His hair appeared to be trying to re-grow the tip of it. His bullet wounds no longer needed bandages around them, but would still need at least a full month to heal-not that wounds were really her expertise, and him being an alien, she couldn't be sure of anything.

She could have given him the sedative reversal then, having checked what she wanted. Instead, she dug through her bag for a wash cloth, grabbed that water bottle, and began to clean him off. His hands and feet would just get dirty from the inside of the cage again, but his face had some orange smears from the rust, probably from sleeping, and it was in his hair as well. She tried to be quick with his hair, roughly wiping them off as to not arouse him, then was onto the next thing.

His long black nails were jagged from scratching at the metal perhaps, and she had a file in her bag, so she fixed his nails. He would probably just mess them up again, and she felt so awkward anyway-sitting in a bear cage, manicuring a sedated aliens nails. She had truly lost her mind. However, she felt it was the least she could do after keeping him in this hell. Even if he had come to Earth to lay eggs in peoples brains, he didnt deserve to be treated poorly. Liana looked at his hair again, as it was drying out and cracking still.

She didn't want to push her limit with the sedative, but she hopped out of the cage, leaving all of her supplies in there with him, with the alien who was unrestrained. She shut the cage door still though and ran inside to look for something useful. She had thought to find some vaseline or baby oil, but found her peach-mango scented lotion first instead. Since she didn't have a whole lot of time with the sedative, she ran back to him. She flung open the cage door without looking, which was reckless, but he was right where she had left him.

Liana hovered over him, lotion in hand, but began to piece together what she was about to do. His dreads, even though they looked like hair, were not. They were something utterly different, and even though she always felt compelled to play with them, she really shouldn't have been. She'd seen his reaction when she had touched them before, and now she was about to lotion them. Liana couldn't do it. Though it wasn't exactly a sex organ, that she knew of, its reaction was related and she just couldn't do it.

For one, she didn't want to see a particular erectible organ to stand to attention. Secondly, she would just felt very weird and nervous about the whole thing. And the third reason was because she would be touching him while he was sedated, but aware she was doing it. She would be touching him while he was completely disarmed and vulnerable, and Liana just couldn't imagine being in his situation and having someone touch her like that. She set down the lotion bottle, feeling like she was wasting time.

She really didn't have anything else to check, but if she couldn't touch his hair, she decided to touch other less personal places. Liana removed her gloves, and ran her palms down the planes of his chest. He was an incredible specimen. The feel of his lightly pebbled reptilian skin was simply electrifying. The contrast between her lightly tan pink skin, and his olive flesh tone was intriguing. She'd come a long way since she had first seen his face, and now found his features anything but hideous.

His eyes were gorgeous, such a deep amber color. The pattern of spotting on his wide forehead created a sort of V in the middle, and then were was some spotting around the edges on the bony ridges before his hair. She touched his forehead, and the ridges along the side, and down to the side of his face. The sight of his mandibles still made her heart race, but she'd come to like looking at them.

Her hands went back to feeling his chest, looking at that patch of black spikes almost like chest hair. She was liberally feeling his body just to feel it, but she must have taken too long. The sedative must have been wearing off. Before she realized that he was moving, his hand was raised to her face, and she saw those sharp claws out of the corner of her eye getting closer. Liana reacted, grabbing the taser from her belt before he could, and she jammed the device against his ribcage.

Just as she was about to pull the trigger, she felt his fingers in her hair, and she paused. Her heart was pounding with adrenaline and fear, but he merely felt her hair. She waited tensely, allowing him to run his fingers through the soft strands of her redwood brown hair, allowing him to explore her as she had with him, until his hand dropped away. Then, she shakily packed up her things and got the hell out of the cage before he was fully awake.

She didn't stay to watch him wake up, as she felt they had made some sort of progress, and she didn't want him to be mad at her all over again. However, his skin always felt so cold to her, and so the next day after work she dared to bring him a small room heater. She set it on one of her kitchen chairs at the back of the cage, far enough away that he couldn't touch it. She figured that if he didn't like it, he could throw a water bottle at it and she'd take the heater away. When he didn't try to tamper with it and began always sitting at the back of the cage however, she assumed that he liked it.

The heater made one problem worse though, and she found herself standing in front of the cage again, watching him, trying to figure out what to do. She didn't know his bodies optimal temperature, but if he was cold blooded, he probably needed the heater or would start to get respiratory, digestive, and other problems. But his dreads were already drying out, and with the heater, were looking worse than ever. She would have to sedate him, would have to touch him. With her decision, Liana grabbed the tranq gun and slowly aimed it at him.

Seeing her movements, he came to sit by the front cage door, and stuck his arm out as before. Again, she felt that he was smart. A bear or even a dog would never act in such a way. She supposed a chimp might, but for him to even stick out his arm, just seemed too unnatural. Liana began to assume that he couldn't speak, and didn't understand English, but there had to be a way to communicate with him. As he watched her, Liana dug out the lotion she had left in her bag, and held it for him to see.

"Lotion…" She was going to be terrible at this whole communicating thing, "You rub it on your skin. It's a hydrating moisturizer." He simply stared, and she sighed, knowing he probably didn't understand a word she was saying.

She dispensed some of it on her hand, and began to rub it into her skin, "See..._lotion…_" Then, she slid the container into his cage, ready for him to bust it open and sling the lotion in her face.

Instead, he shoved the container back at her. She felt like sliding it right back at him, but other times she had done this had only made him mad. Liana grabbed the container, and held up the tranq gun. He quickly put his arm back through the bars. She decided to be patient with him, as he wasn't upset yet, and she tried to hand him the lotion. His fingers refused to close around the bottle however, and she quickly gave that up. She dispensed some of the lotion onto his hand then.

He tilted his head and looked at his hand. The way he was looking at it, his mandibles twitching slightly, just made her giggle. His eyes looked back at her, but he still didn't move his hand. She bit her lower lip, and cautiously began to rub the lotion on his skin, the peach-mango aroma of it beginning to float around. She slid the container in the cage again, but gestured to his hair.

She brushed her hand through her own hair, "Rub it, on your...your thingys." Then she pointed to his hair again.

He slid the lotion away from him.

She let out a slow exhale, as her patience had never been any good. She grabbed the lotion bottle, dispensed some on her hand, and dared to reach through the bars towards his face. She went slowly, ready to yank her hand back if he so much as moved, fearing that he would turn and bite her like a rabid dog. He was utterly still and calm though, and she wiped a glob of lotion onto one of his dreads and then retracted her hand.

She waited for him to touch his hair, remove the lotion, or do something. But, he just sat there, watching her. "Rub it in. Rub. It. In. Just…" She was frustrated, "Just rub it in…" She kept combing her fingers through her own hair, trying to demonstrate what she wanted.

He had done the puzzles, he had learned what the tranquilizer gun was, and had thought to put his arm out of the cage to avoid being shot with it. She didn't understand why he didn't just rub the damn lotion in his hair. Her frustration made her braver, and she reached through the bars to poke at his arm, just trying to get him to move. He simply leaned away from her, and leaned back when she stopped.

Liana then tried to just dispense more of the lotion right on his hair, hoping it would help some, but he leaned away again. She took back her hand, her fingers angrily tightening around the lotion container. She was just trying to help, and he was being so difficult. She pressed her fingers to her temples, trying to think of a better way to do this. She was about to give up and just go get some mineral oil to dump on his head, but figured she'd give the lotion one more try.

"Come here, lean closer." When he didn't respond, she held up the tranq gun again and he put his arm through the bars.

She pulled on his hand, getting his body to lean against the metal. She kept one hand on his, making sure that she would know if he moved, so that she didn't get gutted with those claws. Then, her other hand reached to smooth the lotion into his dark grey dreads. He did not pull away from this, so she continued. Liana put more of the lotion on her hand, and massaged it into his thick strands, and he actually seemed to like it.

"Please, dont be enjoying this too much." She wasn't about to look between his legs to see if he was or not.

When she had coated what strands she could reach, she let his hand go. Before she could direct him, he turned around by himself so she could get to the back of his hair. He had to understand what the lotion was now, and what to do with it, but he wasn't about to do it himself. He wanted her to do it. She worked the lotion into all of his thick dreads, making him smell pungently of fresh fruit.


	9. Chapter 9

She left him alone as much as she could until the next time that she thought he might be hungry. She grabbed some towels to try and get him to lay on in the cage and grabbed the food tray. Liana had eaten the rest of the seafood, as well the other things that he hadn't even liked, and was about to thaw out some more hamburger meat when she found something else instead. She had forgotten that he liked bacon. She cooked the rest of the pack, figuring that she would eat them if he didn't, and also made some eggs to go along with it and also set out some hamburger meat to thaw. Then, she went to the cage.

The bars did not appear to be bent any further, and she slipped a water bottle under them to see if he was thirsty first. He took the bottle, but didn't open it. She shoved two towels under the slot next, hoping he would lay them out to sit on instead of the metal, but he merely shoved them aside. At Least he didn't push them back out. She slid the tray with the eggs and a strip of bacon next.

He snatched up the bacon, gobbled it down, then began examining the eggs. He poked at the scrambled eggs, and then lifted up the patty of egg white. He stared at it wiggling in his fingers, and then flung it at the bars with a short grunt of disgust. Though he hadn't aimed at her, she was glaring at him.

"You're not even going to try it first?"

He grabbed a handful of the scrambled eggs in his hand then and she began to shout at him. "Don't you dare do it!" Her face was already flushed red with anger, but as he paused, she tried to calm down and explain, "I have to clean up all the food you throw to the ground so bears aren't attracted to the house. And if I get mauled, you'll be stuck in that cage without food and water."

He probably didn't understand a word of it, but he dropped the food back on the tray and shoved it at her. She grit her teeth and said a stiff, "Thank you."

After clearing the tray and throwing away the egg white he'd thrown to the ground, she held up another strip of bacon and slipped her hand through the bars to hand to him. He grabbed it immediately and then his mandibles quickly shoved it down his throat. She had to wonder why he liked it so much, as he did not appear to even taste it before swallowing it down. She held up another strip of fresh bacon, but found herself studying his mouth, more questions coming to her mind. Humans had taste buds on their tongue, but his long thin tongue did not appear to have that bumpy appearance. So where were his taste buds?

His hand reached outside the bars in an attempt to grab the bacon from her while she was distracted, but she took a quick step away from him on instinct. A mess of pronunciations like clicking grumbles escaped him as he stared at the meat, "Geur're ve amedha, ooman!"

She looked at him in confusion at first, and then a broad smile sprung to her lips, "Did you just talk? Was that your language? Say it again!"

He turned his head away sharply, refusing.

He was a stubborn one, but she still had bacon in her hand, "Talk." When he was silent, she offered the bacon to him. When he reached for it however, she took it away, "Talk."

He let out a bubbling growl, his eyes starting to burn with that same loathing as before-yet he had made a sound, and that was close enough to what she wanted. They had to start somewhere. She put a piece of bacon on the tray and slid it to him. His body seemed to perk up, surprised, and he snatched up the meat into his mouth.

She broke off another piece of the bacon strip and held it up, "Talk."

A loud and booming growl emanated from him, and then he reached his hand out for the bacon. She let him have the piece. She did this until that strip of bacon was gone, and then held up another.

"Talk. Say something different." When he growled she shook her head, "Talk." He merely growled again. "Say what you said earlier...ooman...something…"

He let out a snort, said, "Ooman." and he pointed at her.

She beamed up at him, and handed him the whole strip of bacon. He chowed it down in a second, and then his eyes looked to her for more.

"What does ooman mean?" She asked.

He was silent. She held up a piece of bacon, "Talk again. Please." He growled. She brought the piece of bacon closer, "Say something, or at least make another sound."

He moved away from her, and seemed to pace around the small cage for a moment, and then came back to the door, staring at the bacon. She sighed, losing her patience, and brought the bacon to her own lips. A low growl vibrated from him, growing in intensity as she bit down on the meat and began to chew. She could see his body tensing, and prepared for him to lash out at her and throw a tantrum. The towels she'd just put in there would be ripped to shreds; he'd likely throw the water bottle at her.

Liana worked to dissipate his anger instead. She held up another strip of bacon, but he didn't move to grab it. His hands were tight fists around the bars. Her tense shoulders dropped though, not enough energy in her today to fight with him. She grabbed the rest of the pack of bacon, and set it on the tray. When he still didn't respond, she put her hand on his, just trying to get him to relax. She was getting too comfortable with him though, and his hands snatched her wrists before she could pull away.

She let out a little shriek as he drug her closer, and she prepared for pain, prepared for him to break her arms at the elbow. His hands held her with an iron grip around her wrists, the pressure already painful. He stared at her with his intense, amber colored eyes, but didn't attempt to harm her any further. When she tried to pull away, he jerked her body forward so her chest was pressed against the bars. She stopped fighting him, and he moved so only one hand was holding both of her wrists.

Her heart was pounding, ready to shoot him in the chest again as soon as her hands were free. But for now, she watched him grab a strip of bacon from the tray and eat it casually, his eyes still locked on hers. When his hand reached towards her midsection however, she tried to back away from him, tried not to let him touch her. Her struggling was useless, and his hand hooked around her belt to hold her hips against the bars.

He loomed above her, staring at her, and she didn't understand what he sought to accomplish by holding her there, except some sort of skewed dominance over her. He lowered his face, getting closer, seeming to smell her, and she sucked in a scared breath as one of his mandibles grazed her arm. He pulled her closer as his face raised to hers again, and his mandibles reached out to her like some sort of insect. She let out a whine as she felt his tongue lash across her throat.

She began to thrash and squirm again as she felt his hand trying to undo her belt. She didn't have any leverage though, as her elbows were bent in against the bars and he held her wrists. She felt the jingle of her belt buckle coming undone, and all the blood drained from her body. Her gun, her taser, pepper spray, and the tranq gun ammo was all on that belt. He pulled the belt off roughly, his eyes examining it, and then he dropped it to the ground.

Her body stilled, confused by his behavior. His hand reached down, grabbed another piece of bacon and ate it, then his hand rose to her face. She held her breath nervously, afraid he would try to choke her again, but his hand went to her hair. The feel of his nails on her scalp made her shiver, but all he did was merely play with her hair and run his hands through it. His tusks began to twitch and click together as he looked at her face, like he was thinking about something.

"W-what do you want from me?" She asked timidly.

He met her eyes, his head tilting as he considered her. He spoke very clear english, though with a thick and odd accent, "Haven't decided yet."

He let go of her wrists suddenly, and she fell backwards onto her ass in the dirt. She stared up at him, horrified, as he picked up that rabbit skull he had kept. He stared at it with admiration, and swept a finger tenderly across the top of its head before he turned to look down at her. Fear permeated her, as well as anger. He picked up another piece of bacon, and slipped it into his mouth as her hands tightened into fists.

He said one last thing, "Beacon sends distress signal. Been here too long. Yautja come find me, kill you. Few days."

She scrambled to her feet, and stalked away from him, her head spinning. She didn't believe him, didn't believe anyone was coming to his rescue. _Yautja _must have been what he called his race, and she tried to remember the pronunciation of it so she could write that down later. Something about his calm demeanor was almost scarier than his rage though, and made her think that if he ever escaped, he would do much more than simply kill her. He would torture her.

Liana didn't want to have to see his face for another four days until he had to eat and drink again, but she had already thawed out meat. He ate much more than a pack of bacon at a sitting. She had to go back.

Liana really didn't want to, and would have been content with letting him go hungry for a day, but she went back to face him. She was a strong girl, and would not allow herself to be pushed around or threatened. He could try to shove his dominance down her throat, but he was still the one in the cage. She would try not to show him any fear. She fed him, so he would not hurt her, that must have been why he didn't snap her arms earlier. Liana held onto that fake sort of security, slid a tray of meat into his cage, and lazily dangled her arms inside the bars to watch him.

He turned his head to look at her, his dreads swaying around his neck. By the look in his eyes, she could tell he was still on edge. That strange clicking noise played from him, the same one he'd uttered before claiming that rabbit. Liana swallowed the saliva pooling in her mouth, and tried not to let her worry be apparent on her face. His muscles looked ready to pounce, strung tight and tense as he came closer.

However, his eyes kept going to the meat, and he seemed to set his anger aside to eat first. She watched him swallow down the huge pile of raw hamburger bite by bite. Her own body tensed then once he was finished, waiting for him to throw the tray at her or something. Instead, he drank down the water bottle he had kept, and then gently tossed the container out onto the ground beside her. He crept closer to the gate, reached out his hand, and wiped his dirty meat fingers on her face.

She cleaned off her face and flung the bits of raw meat at him. He let out a ferocious growl, and his hand shot to her throat. Liana had already received bruises on her neck from him before, and bruises on her wrists, so she had no doubt that he would do it again. As her eyes began to water though, she reached her hand through the bars to feel his dreads, her palm lightly wrapping around one and letting it slide against her skin.

Liana heard him exhale as his anger deflated, and he sat down in front of the cage door. For a few moments at least, he seemed content to let her keep playing with his hair. She twirled the beads around that her stuck on his strands, and just groped at handfuls of his soft dreads. Eventually though, he began to lean away out of her reach. Her light blue eyes stared at him longingly.

He spoke again, in a hushed and grumpy tone, "Go away ooman."

"Why?" She asked playfully, "So you can go back to trying to bend the bars?"

He was silent, but wouldn't meet her eyes.

"What's your name? Just tell me your name and I'll go. I'll leave you alone."

He leaned back towards her, and sat up on his knees in front of the metal bars. She didn't quite feel comfortable with the way his eyes were looking at her body, but waited for him to answer her. Liana resisted to urge to shove his hands away as they reached out to her hips, almost sensually feeling up her body. She could feel his sharp claws through her thin shirt, and it made her skin crawl with goosebumps.

"Please, tell me your name." She prompted him.

His face leaned close to the bars, and his eyes flickered up to meet hers. Liana held her breath, anticipating his words. His hands however, were a first concern. Before he said anything, one of his hands dove down the front of her pants and she quickly wiggled away with a squeak of surprise.

Free of him, she yelled, "You bastard!"

Her hand went to slap him, but all she ended up doing was hitting her hand and bruised wrist on the hard metal bars, causing pain to shoot through her. He watched her, mandibles seeming to twitch with amusement. Her cheeks were burning red.

"You're an asshole." She breathed, then spun away from the cage.

He got what he wanted, got her to leave him alone, and she still didn't know his name. She went inside and ended up flopping down on her bed, her mind hating how her body had reacted to his touch. She had almost liked it. She had been nervous, but had almost enjoyed his hands on her hips. And when he had stuck his hand down her pants, it was horrifying, but she couldn't deny the pulse of arousal that had gone through her when he'd done it.

Yautja translations:

"Geur're ve amedha, ooman!" - "Surrender the meat, ooman!"


	10. Chapter 10

She had peacefully gone to sleep thinking about him, but oddly enough her dreams brought her back to reality. Liana jolted awake with the sound of her alarm clock, a scream creeping to her lips before seeing that she was back in her bedroom, and not in the clutches of aliens. She was gripping the covers and covered in sweat. Though she had easily dismissed what he had said about rescue coming for him, her mind had obviously not let it go.

She wasn't a match for him when he had a bullet wound to his neck and chest, and had almost been strangled by him even as weak as he had been-and he had been unarmed at the time. Liana certainly would not hold up against another one. If someone came to his rescue, they would be well armed and prepared.

The more she thought about it, the more it worried her. In the movie, E.T. had to call for his rescue, and the alien in the cage didn't have anything to contact his kind with to be able to do the same. However, that didn't mean that no one was aware he was still here. He had said that a beacon would send a signal, and as she didn't know if he had a ship somewhere or had been dropped off, her mind went to that wrist gauntlet. To be on the safe side, Liana considered smashing all of his weapons and gear, or at least getting them far away from her house.

For now though, she went to go check on him, and brought some fruit with her as an excuse to bother him. She hoped that she would be able to bribe him with fruit into saying his name now that she knew he could talk. He was just sitting there against the back wall, holding that rabbit skull. He didn't look over at her. She knew he wanted to be left alone, but she began to peel the orange in her hand anyway.

"Are you hungry at all?"

Of course, she got no response.

Eating in front of him had angered him before, but she couldn't help herself. She took a slice of orange and put it in her mouth, chewing slowly, enjoying its juicy flavor. She ate another, and noticed his head was starting to turn towards her. Liana ate a third slice, and made silly pleasurable noises as she did, then wiped the juices that went sliding down from the corner of her mouth. His amber eyes slowly met her gaze. She turned to walk away then, to leave him, but heard his rumbling growl.

She turned back, trying to hide the smile on her face, and watched him move to the front of the cage. She extended the rest of the orange out to him and he quickly snatched it from her hand. He dissected it quickly using his nails, and she watched him swallow piece by piece and even the peel.

Liana brought out another orange, beginning to peel it, and asked, "Why won't you tell me your name?"

He started to growl at her, but she handed him a piece. Trading with him, info for food, was not going to work anymore. She simply wanted to keep him calm. He eagerly grabbed it from her hand, and ate it. She slowly handed him another.

"What's the harm in me knowing your name?" to keep him compliant, she gave him another piece of orange. He still growled at her, then stuffed it down his throat.

When she offered him another small slice, he grew angry and slapped her hand away, "Ooman do not feed me like a pet!"

"Sorry." She mumbled, and handed him the rest of the orange. He devoured it quickly, peel and all.

The longer she stood there, the more he seemed to puff up, muscles going tense. Even in such a small cage, he started to pace back and forth in it. She sighed, and popped open her can of beer.

She took a swig and then declared, "Don't get all worked up. I'm leaving."

When she turned to leave, he stilled, and then growled at her. When she kept walking away he said, "Ooman."

She stopped and turned back to him, expecting a request for water, to turn up the heater on the back of the cage, or something. Instead, she noticed that his eyes were locked on the can in her hand, and he seemed to smell the air like he was interested in it.

"Oh, no I can't give you this."

His fist slammed into the bars, making rattle, and he boomed, "Female, you will give me anything I request!"

She grit her teeth, wanting to spit back so many comments on how that was not the case. However, one can of beer was not going to do any harm, and she handed it over. His features almost looked smug as he grabbed it from her hand and drank it down. She waited for him to throw the can at her head next, and say it was disgusting. Instead, he hovered it over his mouth, trying to get every last drop.

She stared at him blinking in surprise, "You liked it?"

He sat down in the cage, not seeming to reject. Her mind began to turn out evil ideas again, just as she had when she spotted that can of ghost pepper powder. Liana left him, and went into the house to search through her cabinets. She didn't even know if he would like it, or drink it willingly, but she would try. She found the bottle of vodka hidden in the back behind her Cheerios, grabbed two shot glasses, and walked back out to the cage. Liquor could loosen anybodies lips, and she just wanted to know his name.

He seemed to want whatever she had, so she poured herself a shot in front of him, and swallowed it down. He watched her with a tilted head as she made a face at the taste, and then she poured him a shot as well. She offered it out to him.

"Its not water. Do you want to try it?"

He looked at it, smelled it, but his hand grabbed the whole bottle instead of the small shot. With enough force to end up breaking the bottle he yanked it from her hand and thrust it through the slot at the bottom so he could have the whole thing, as it didnt quite fit through the small space of the bars. It was a new bottle too that she'd just opened, and now she feared he'd be wasting it if he broke or spilled it.

"Hey!" She protested, but he lifted the bottle to his mouth and began to chug, "Oh no no no! Hey! Hey! Don't drink all of that! Are you listening to me! Hey!" He quickly downed the entire bottle of vodka in a matter of seconds.

Liana's eyes were wide as she stared at him. He politely slipped the empty bottle back out through the slot and handed it to her. Then, he picked up the shot glass she had dropped, and handed that out to her as well. She began to shake her head at him. Liana glanced at her phone, taking note of the time, and simply waited to see if he would show any effects. Hopefully, hard alcohol did not have the same reaction with him as it did humans. Maybe his body would filter it out before it did anything.

He sat there silently, seemingly unaffected, just waiting for her to leave. The minutes ticked by. However, when he stood up and hit his head on the top of the cage, she knew she was in for some trouble. He stumbled and sat back down, started to look at his hands, then leaned back looking at the ceiling of the cage too.

Suddenly, he whirled his head in her direction and his mandibles spread out wide as he yelled, "This is second time you poison me!"

Liana scoffed, put her hands on her hips and said, "I didn't poison you. It's alcohol, and you are the one who wouldn't listen when I said not to drink it all...and I don't know what you mean twice either."

He came to the front of the cage again and she took a defensive step away from him, but he said, "Meat burned throat. Poison."

"Oh," she tried not to giggle at him, "that was just powdered peppers. Peppers are a fruit, so I thought maybe, you know, you'd like it…" her excuses were terrible.

He tried to growl at her, but the noise faded off as he started to lean to to side, seeming unstable. She bit her lip, trying not to laugh at him. His beady eyes kept blinking as he looked around, as if this were the first time he was actually noticing of the cage around him. He didn't seem to act like he'd ever had alcohol before. Even on an alien planet though, fermenting fruit would create alcohol. It seemed like such a simple thing.

He tried to stand up again, having trouble that he couldn't stand all the way up without hitting his head, and having trouble with the fact that the ground wasn't flat. He was in a huge tube and the alcohol made him uncoordinated. She watched him try to move around, unsure of what he was doing, thinking that he probably didn't even know. As he shifted though, so did the cage and trailer some. He seemed to start to like the rocking. With his strength, he braced the walls and began to rock the cage back and forth.

He did that until she began to fear that he would actually tip the whole cage and trailer, and tried to gain his attention back. "Hey, can you tell me your name now?"

He froze, looked at her like he'd forgotten she was there, and stumbled forward to her. He held onto the bars for support, almost looking like he might puke. She leaned away warily.

"D...rrr..."

One of her eyebrows lifted at him, "What's your name?"

"Derr...Drr...rrr...de...d..."

Liana shook her head with a sigh. Either his name was incredibly strange, or they had another problem altogether. He couldn't pronounce his own name. Bravely stepping close to him, into a possible puke zone, she reached in to feel his hair. On instinct he seemed to grab her, fumbling with her arm before yanking her wrist closer. But she was still bruised and let out a yelp of pain.

Surprisingly, he let her go instantly, and began to purr again. She found herself leaning closer, liking the calming effect of such a strange noise. Liana felt a strand of his hair, but he shouldn't have encouraged him. His hands reached out to touch her as well, groping at her breasts. She quickly shoved him away, and he stared at her threw the bars.

He rested his forehead up against the metal and began to babble incoherent ramblings that must have been alien words. He was looking at her expectantly though, like he was asking her something.

"I can't understand a word you're saying."

He let out a huff, and let himself lean backwards and flop down on his back, apparently giving up on talking. She watched his chest lift and fall with his deep breathing, but after a minute he seemed to get an idea. He lifted himself up, almost looking like he was getting used to being intoxicated, and grabbed that rabbit skull from the back of the cage. He shuffled over to her then, one arm sliding across the side of the cage for balance.

He grunted, and held out the little skull to her, trying to press it into her hands. She hesitated, but took it from him.

She met his eyes, "What are you giving this creepy thing to me for?"

He straightened up on his knees in the cage, and his hand went to her hair again. His other hand wrapped around her lower back and jerked her body forward against the bars. She sucked in a surprised inhale, and her free hand pushed at his chest lightly through the bars, unsure of what he planned to do with her there. If he went back to the groping, she would pull herself away.

He had always carried with him a sort of masculine smell, but only now with him holding her there, his body leaning closer, did it smell so strongly. It was a spicy musk, an overly manly smell, and it seemed to surround her thickly in the air. His hand moved from her hair to the back of her head to keep her face close, and his tongue reached out to lick at her collarbone then up her neck. Something about that heady smell made her lean in closer, and his tongue painted across her lower lip.

She stopped shoving him away, and he immediately closed the gap between them, both of their bodies pressed together, but with the metal bars preventing anything further. Her heart was racing, but even with that influencing scent of his musk around her, she turned her face away. He let her go, and sat back in the cage. Liana tried to organize her thoughts and get herself under control. She'd only taken one shot of vodka, but the ideas in her head suggested otherwise. More than ever, she just wanted to let him out, or even crawl in the cage with him.

She shook her head, physically trying to rid her mind of such obscene thoughts. She lifted up the smooth white rabbit skull still in her hand, and turned to leave.

He growled, but she ignored him until he demanded, "You stay...mere...come mere."

"Say your name, and I'll stay."

He bumped his head against the bars, and slurred, "De'aro."

She smiled at him, and went back to stand in front of the bars. His hand immediately went to her belt to drag her closer and his hands went on to explore around to her ass. Liana squirmed out of his reach, and he pouted, but sat down and began touching his own hair. She watched his claws draw through the thick strands and he started to lean backwards before he caught himself and sat upright.

For drinking the whole bottle, he actually didn't seem too drunk. He had to weigh over two hundred pounds, and she supposed that distributed the alcohol through his veins. When his other hand slipped underneath his cloth cover however, she began to reconsider his drunkenness.

She wasn't about to watch him play with it, "Hey, cut that out or I'm leaving."

He let out an indignant snort, but let his hands drop. He sat up again in front of the bars then and said, "I escape. Fuck you."

She wasn't totally sure if that _fuck you_ was meant as the insult or the action, but she watched him hastily take out a bead from his hair and press it to the metal bar. He paused, and she waited for something alien or magical to happen. However, he simply began to viciously rub the metal bead on the bars, as though he was capable of sawing his way out with it.

"Don't do that!" She fought with his fingers to pry the bead away from him, "You'll scratch it and it's so pretty."

Finally, he gave up and she plucked the bronze-colored bead out of his hand. She rolled it in her palm, but with the dim light that the setting sun was providing it looked unscathed. She held it up then, looking for any damage. It wasn't even scratched. Liana reveled at how hard the metal was and tried to hand it back to him.

"Put it back in your hair." She prompted him.

Instead, he leaned his head close, seeming to want her to put it back. She held the bare strand of his dread and slipped the metal bead onto it until the growing thickness of the strand made the bead snuggly stay in his hair. She could help but palm and stroke his hair for a moment more and then leaned away.

"Did you still want me to stay?" She started to back away, and he growled, so she took that as a yes. It was getting dark out and cold though, so she said, "I'll be right back."

Liana grabbed a blanket from inside and then sat in the camping chair infront if the cage. He plopped down, leaning against the side of the cage, but slid sideways onto the bottom of the cage anyway, then rolled to his stomach to stare at her. He looked ridiculous.

"When you going let me out?" He begged.

She let out a sigh, and said, "How can I trust you not to kill me?"

He let out a predatory rumble and said, "I do much more than kill you, but be gentler than other yautjas who come."

"And how do I know you aren't lying? Why would you need me to let you go when your kind is coming to free you?"

"...Look silly, in ooman cage."

"Right."

"Lemme go."

He was drunk and begging, but she couldn't do it, "No."

"When they come, won't be able to stop them hurt you, if I'm in cage."

She nodded, and he shut his eyes to sleep. More than anything, what prevented her from letting him go was a fear that he would just disappear. She worried he would take his stuff and leave just like that. She doubted she would ever see him again, or that she'd ever see another of his kind. It was stubborn, stupid, and wrong to keep him in the cage-yet she couldn't bring herself to let him out. He would contact his kind. He would kill her. Or, he might just leave. Either way, in the cage, she knew she'd be able to see him another day.


	11. Chapter 11

She woke up early in the morning, around four am even without her alarm clock, as she was so used to waking up at that time. The sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon. Sometime during the night she had situated herself in the chair so that her legs were up over one arm and her head was dangling off the other. She blinked and yawned slowly, then lifted her gaze up to the cage. He was already awake, and as she lifted her head she was greeted with his yellow-orange eyes watching her. Whether it was more creepy or endearing, she couldn't decide.

She stood and stretched, her body aching from sleeping in that camping chair all night, then she looked back at him, "Good morning...I have to go to work now, but do you need anything? Do you have a hangover? Have a headache? Need water?"

"Go, ooman." His words were rude, but his voice had softened.

"Alright." She quickly cleaned up the area, then left with the rabbit skull in her hand.

She got ready, got in the Jeep, tied the skull up to her rear view mirror, and sat there for a moment trying to think. She stared at the smooth white skull, at it's odd shape. After a moment of debating, she went to the garage and grabbed his box of weapons and alien things. She couldn't smash it, and after seeing how strong that metal bead in his hair was, she doubted she'd even be able to destroy them. She knew she would have to let him out of the cage and he would want his stuff too. But if someone was looking for him, she just wanted a few more days with him to herself, and had to get any possible tracking device far away as possible.

She stopped at the first trap, got her work done, and went to the next. She went down the line until she was at the one farthest away from the house, rummaged through her Jeep for rope and the line launcher. It was a professional tree trimming tool like a giant sling shot but she had found it useful for other things, like with setting different traps, and hanging food out of a bears reach. She shot a line of rope over a suitable branch.

Liana put all of his belongings in a bag and hauled it high up into the tree. She had small signs she used to mark her traps, labeling them as conservation depart property. She tied the rope off, and left a small posted sign tacked to the tree where it was tied, hoping a hunter would not find it-and if one did, that they would leave it alone.

When she got back home, a little later than usual, she headed right to the cage to check on him. She walked around to the back of the house, following the worn path in the grass. Her heart was beating faster with every step, worried again that he would be gone. But, he was sitting at the front of the cage waiting for her. As their eyes met, her heart skipped a little beat, but she tried not to look so eager to see him.

"De'aro." She said cautiously, trying to pronounce it exactly as he had.

He let out a soft trilling noise and perked up at his name.

"Are you thirsty at all?" She asked.

He ignored her question, "Pronounce your name for me again."

She said it slowly, "Liana." And she waited for him to say her name, but he was silent.

She didn't want to leave, but felt awkward just watching him now without something to do, so she asked, "Do you want something to eat? Fruit? Chocolate?" She silently begged for him to say yes.

He ignored her again, "They come for me. Soon."

Her heart fell. She put her hands on the bars and bowed her head, "I do believe you."

"Then let me out ooman." He snarled.

She still couldn't bring herself to do it. What would they do if she let him out anyway? Sit at her kitchen table and sip tea? If she were him, she would get her stuff together and leave. What was there here for him anyway? That brought a question to the front of her mind.

"Why did you come here in the first place?"

She didn't think he would actually answer, but he grunted, "Hunt."

"To hunt what? Bears...?" She didn't think he'd come to hunt bears, but wanted him to just say yes.

"Oomans. Humans."

She felt pressure behind her eyes, but held back tears. She didn't wanted him to be a killer, didn't want to accept what she had suspected all along. He'd come to earth specifically to hunt, and if she hadn't shot him in the woods that day...

"Would you have killed me if I hadn't shot you?"

"Sei-i, you were a prime target...but it's not your skull I want anymore."

"You want out of the cage."

He turned his face away, almost seeming to reject her words-but she was afraid to ask what he really wanted from her if he didn't want her dead. They both fell into an awkward silence, until Liana decided to leave. If he was not hungry, all she would be doing is standing and staring at him. She bit her lower lip nervously, then turned to leave.

"Ooman," he stopped her, "bring fruit."

She tried not to smile so big, went to grab him fresh fruit from her kitchen, and immediately returned. She almost started to peel it, but remembered how he didn't like that, and simply handed the orange over to him. She liked watching him eat, mesmerized by the way his claws pulled the pieces apart and how his mandibles moved to feed the fruit down his throat. He seemed to notice she was staring however, and stopped eating to look up at her.

She knew he did not like her watching him, so she turned to head back in the house, "Sorry."

"Stay." He demanded.

She eagerly turned back to him, and leaned her arms through the bars casually. He sat up, inching towards the bars, seeming to react like a magnet every time she was near like that-only wanting to get closer. He pulled another piece out from the orange, but did something she didn't ever expect. He held it out to her, and her face lit up with a smile. When she went to reach for it though, he playfully jerked it out of her reach, and instead brought the orange slice to her lips himself. She felt the nervous fluttering invade her stomach, feeling so strange as he fed her, but her body felt warm.

He watched her chew, then fed another piece to her lips as his chest rumbled with a soft purr. Her cheeks lit up with red. He could be so sweet at times. And it was just yesterday that he was yelling at her for feeding him like a pet, but then he did it to her.

She licked her lips and leaned away to assure him, "I won't tell the government or anyone about you, and I will let you free. I promise."

"Now." He pressed.

She felt the guilt wash over her, "Soon." She said sadly.

He growled, "Soon be too late. Why not now?" She could tell he was growing tense.

She shook her head at him, "I just..." she tried to grasp for any reason to give him, any excuse at all, "...I just...need to do a little more research on you."

"That what I am to you? Just an experiment?" He growled.

She immediately regretted the words. He threw the rest of the orange at her, hitting her stomach then it went bouncing to the ground. It was a terrible excuse, but before she could try and reword it his anger took over. His fist slammed into side of the cage as he growled, then his nails wracked down the side of the metal, making her cringe. He whirled around and began to tear apart the towels, then wadded them up and threw them out the bars in the back at the heater, making it topple down off the chair. He beat his hands on the side of the cage and then came to kick the front bars.

His chest was heaving, "Let me out now ooman, or when I get out there will be pain for you!"

Her hands went to the door, her fingers on the cold metal of the latch. Her heart was racing. His muscles tensely coiled, he crouched near the bars his eyes set on the trees behind her. She hesitated, so many thoughts racing through her mind. When she barely started to lean away, his hand reached out to grab her wrist, his grip painfully tight.

"Open it!" He growled.

Her fingers pried at his, "Let go of me!" She began to shriek in pain as his sharp nails dug into her wrist. She tried to pull herself away from him but he only held her tighter. "Let me go!" She begged.

She felt his nails slicing through her skin, and the gush of warm blood that ran over her hand. She screamed with the jolt of pain, but he quickly drowned out her pathetic cried with a deafening roar. She was so close to him, she felt even the booming vibrations from it. Liana cringed, her eyes closing and she turned her face away but she could not escape it. Her ears quickly gave out, throbbing with intense pain, yet there was only static. His mandibles were still splayed out wide, exposing the slick pink insides of his mouth, yet she couldn't hear it at all.

Eventually his grip vanished, and she crumpled to the ground. Pain jolted through her wrist and up into her arm, and the pressure in her ears was agonizing. Her blue eyes lifted up to his as he tilted his head at her and then said something. She could tell he was talking, as his jaw and mandibles moved, but loud ringing was taking over in her ears and she didn't hear a word of it. He almost looked sympathetic, but her wrist was a shredded mess, was bleeding profusely, and she only hopped that it was a temporary deafness, and not permanent damage.

Liana tried not to cry in front of him again, tried not to look so weak, but the pressure behind her eyes spilled over. She let out a choked sob, and scrambled to her feet. She ran from him, into the comfort of her house. Her wrist left a dotted trail of blood on her carpet, and with blurry tear-wrought vision she began to clean the wound and wrap it up. The gashes were so deep however, she knew she was going to need stitches.

For now though, she did her best to stop the bleeding and crawled into bed to cry herself to sleep. She did her best to ignore the pain, and pulled the covers up around herself. The warm tears would not end, and they ran down her face and soaked her pillow. She hated him.

Just like the grizzly bears she loved so much, she had to remind herself not to get too close, not to trust them. He was temperamental and unpredictable. How many bruises had he left on her? She should have seen something like this coming, yet she had to let him slice open her wrist, and could have killed her again. She was foolish in every way possible.

She was foolish for putting him in a cage, foolish for not letting him go sooner. Once he was healed, she should have sedated him, dropped him out in the wilderness, and forgot she ever saw an alien. Even now, she could still let sedate him, open the cage, and go on a spontaneous and far away vacation. However, she would rather deal with his temper every single day then have him vanish from her life. Her biggest fault was falling for him, for allowing him to work a soft spot into her heart.


	12. Chapter 12

She woke up to her alarm clocks high-pitched beeping caws, which sounded like a robot crow from hell, and pain shot through her wrist, making her want to start crying again. The day was already off to a horrible start, but then again, the incessant beeping from the alarm made her realize that she had regained her hearing overnight. Relief flooded over her, but as she moved out of the bed, it was only replaced by more pain and misery. She had to get to a doctor.

She didn't have to dress, as she had slept in her clothes, but only had to put on her belt and comb through her long hair. In the mirror, she tried to ignore how tired and bloodshot her eyes looked. She locked the front door behind her and headed for the Jeep, but found her footsteps slowing. Liana peeked back at the side of the house, wanting to go check on him, make sure he was still there. He kept saying rescue was coming, and she didn't want them to get him and leave without a word...but then again, he had said he'd come to the planet to hunt humans, to kill.

If they came to rescue him, they might just decide to hunt her. She really was a fool. Her worry was with him leaving, but if his race was as savage as she was imagining it now, they would kill her first. He wouldn't just disappear to leave her to tell others of aliens. And he wouldn't just leave without her seeing him again-whoever came for him would likely reap some revenge, if he didn't do it himself. He had even said that they would harm her, but she had swept his words under the rug, ignored them. Her mind was filled with more peaceful aliens, but he was not such.

He'd torn open her right wrist, on her good arm she aimed with. If they came, she'd hardly be able to even wield a gun. Liana began to walk back towards the house, to go see how close to death she was, to see if they had come yet. As she reached the side of the house, she was practically forcing her feet to shuffle forward. Her heart was thundering in her chest and her throat was tightening. As her eyes began to water, she realized she didn't want to see an empty cage as much as she didn't want to see his amber eyes if he was there.

She didn't turn the corner to look at the cage. She just couldn't. Liana felt she just needed a little more time to get her emotions under control. Then, she would open the cage like he was wanted all along. She promised herself that no matter what, even if he was still angry, she would let him out. She would suffer whatever he had in store for her, just not right now.

Liana drove to the doctors with one hand, glad her Jeep was an automatic instead of a stick like her last had been. With her profession, injuries were easy to explain. Broken bones could be from a fall in the woods, as there were quite a few short cliff drop-offs. If she ever got shot, her excuse could be that a hunter accidentally shot her. If she disappeared, they all would assume a bear ate her and in the vastness of the park and surrounding woods, no one would believe that a body could be found. Her wrist obviously looked like claws had dug into her skin, and the doctor immediately guessed that it was a bear.

There was no coming up with awkward excuses, and Liana could just sit and watch him work. He unwrapped the bandages, and peeled off the butterfly stitches she'd put in place. Her wrist looked worse than she remembered without blood gushing over it, concealing it. She wondered what De'aro had said to her when she had been deaf, wondered if he had apologized or said she deserved it. Stitching her wrist back up was quick, but far from painless.

Bandaged back up, the doctor sent her home. She fought to load her Jeep with bait, and get her supplies together. She still had a job to do, still had to check the traps, then she would let him go. The first one, even without a bear, was horribly painful and difficult to reset, so she decided not to reset it. She checked all the traps, struggling to use her tranq gun on a bear, but then simply let it free without tagging it. She disabled all of the traps she had set, knowing she needed at least a few days off to heal her wrist.

She drove back home slowly, knowing what she had to do next. She put all of the bait back in the freezer, causing her bandages to bleed some, and then walked to the back of the house. Liana strode to the cage, trying to be confident, and put her hands on the latch. She unlocked the door, but hesitated lifting the gate. Her eyes set beyond the bars, at the empty cage. He was gone. She almost couldn't believe it, but he was gone.

She knew immediately that it was not his invisibility trick as before, as the whole gate on the back was missing. Her fingers dropped from the latch and it sprung locked again, and she moved to the back of the cage. Her heart was decaying inside her as she stared down at the bars on the ground. Her fingers went to the track on the cage, and the length of metal still in it. The gate had not been lifted, it had been cut away. She furrowed her brows, as she knew whoever rescued him would have been smart enough to figure out the latch.

Liana leaned in, inspecting the cage. The bars looked like they had been cut through half-way and then broken, busted from the inside as they were slightly bent outwards. It looked like he had escaped by himself, but how? He didn't have any weapons, or anything. The only metal she left on him were the beads in his hair...and she remembered when he was drunk, that he had tried to saw his way out with the bead, seeming so silly.

She realized that he must have been doing this the entire time, using the hard metal beads to file away at the bars. He had to have worked at it day and night, constantly. She supposed, that was always why he shooed her away, so she couldn't see what he was doing, and he could get back to work. Her sullenness was replaced by a tingling of fear, and she turned to stare at the expanse of forest behind her.

If he was planning to escape the entire time, had he lied about rescue coming? Had he faked any nice behavior towards her just to keep her suspicions away? She thought about driving into the woods to see if he had found his weapons, but if she was being watched, that would only lead him to the stuff. Then, in the woods she would be vulnerable.

Liana stood there for several moments, just staring into the woods trying to decide what to do next. If he was loose out there somewhere in the woods and she wasn't capable of doing her job anyway, there was nothing for her here. Rescue still might be on its way if he didn't find his stuff she'd hung in the tree-or maybe he had a ship somewhere and could contact his kind. She hadn't asked if he had a spaceship or not. But if they were coming, she could be in danger. And if he'd made them up, and no rescue was coming, he was a liar and would likely kill her.

It made it difficult for her to breathe, thinking that it was all a lie, that the purring was only to keep her from suspecting foul play from him. It didn't feel fake. But, by being nice he had gotten her to stop spraying him with water. She had let him keep the metal beads in his hair that he used to escape with, and he had given him the heater. It seemed real though. He would have never had to go so far as to feed her...but where was he now?

She decided that it didn't matter, none of it mattered, and the safe thing to do would be to get away from this place. Pain seared its way through her wrist when she gripped her gun, but she grit her teeth and did her best to ignore it as she entered her house. She quickly searched the rooms for his presence, then began grabbing only the necessities. She would drive until she couldn't stay awake any longer, and get a cheap hotel somewhere. Then, she would make the journey to her grandmother's house and stay with her. Crushed for time, she filled two duffle bags of her stuff and threw them in the Jeep.

She climbed up into the seat and turned the key, but nothing happened. She tried again, but there was only a faint clicking, like the battery had died. That was improbable however, as it was a fairly new battery and she never left headlights on or anything. Before she began to panic, she jumped down to check under the hood. As soon as she lifted the hood, her eyes locked onto the empty void where her battery once sat. Her heart was beginning to beat faster. Someone had taken the whole battery out.

Fear was creeping into her system. Now the fact that the vehicle wasn't a stick was working against her, as she couldn't push start it. She let the hood drop slowly, and looked around her. He had to be close, probably watching her. She drew the Glock from her belt, and took out her cell phone. She called for a cab, and began to walk down her driveway through the sparse trees. She would probably have to leave her bags, or risk bringing the cab driver up closer to the house.

A wave of blue sparks began to outline his shape before she saw him walking towards her up the driveway. He was dressed in armor, with the expressionless mask, weapons, and all of it. He had found the bag of stuff she had hidden, and now felt that he would be more angry at her. She hadn't let him go, had hid his stuff from him, and had said he was a science experiment. She began to back up, but knew she wouldn't be able to outrun him. She could hear her heart beating loudly in her ears, her pulse racing out of control. Her hand was shaking as she lifted the gun at him, but she steadied it with the other hand and aimed.

"Just let me leave, please. I'm sorry for everything I did." She whimpered.

"Not sorry enough. Not yet." He kept walking right up to her despite the gun.

"Just let me go, let me leave De'aro."

"Let you go? Like you let me out of cage?" He snarled.

"Please, I'm sorry." She aimed the gun at his chest, her finger on the trigger.

He came to stand only a foot in front of her, looming above her at his full height. Crammed in the cage, she had easily forgotten just how tall he was. But at eight foot tall, just his sheer size was a threat. When he reached for the gun she feared he would twist it out of her grip and her wrist had already suffered enough, so she simply dropped the gun to the ground, already feeling defeated. She wouldn't shoot him, so there was no escape for her.

"Good girl." He cooed, his voice sounding dark and foreboding.

Once again his nails slid against her scalp into her hair, but his time he grabbed a handful of her red-brown hair and jerked her forward to walk beside him, "They not here yet, so I'm going have fun with you."

She let out a pathetic whimper, but sprinted beside him, letting him steer her back up to the house. He drug her around back and her feet began to drag the ground as she looked at the cage. He could not lock her inside it unless he welded the door back on, but she knew he must have had a plan in his head if he was dragging her back to it. Adrenaline was coursing through her, yet she refused to fight or run. She silently begged that he would be kind, that he would be sweet, but she honestly didn't know what to expect from him when she had been so cruel.


	13. Chapter 13

As they neared the back of the cage, she still didn't fight him, but twisted around to try and beg with her eyes alone, not to harm her. His hand released her hair and instead both hands clamped onto her torso, squeezing her ribs painfully as he lifted her into the air. She squinted her eyes shut as he thrust her backwards into the cage. Her elbos hit first, pain shooting up through her humerus, and then he back of her head hit the metal. When she sat up, keeping weight off her wounded wrist, he was gone. She knew she shouldn't dare move, or risk angering him more.

She heard the running water first, and then he came into view, a dull green hose dangling from his hand where he gripped the sprayer. She jumped as the jet of cold water hit her, sucking in a surprised breath, and quickly turned her face away. The force of the jet stung her skin, and the cold water chilled her to her core. She couldn't help but squirm, but he kept the water on her, drenching her clothes and her hair. She was shaking and covered in goosebumps by the time he dropped the hose and crawled up into the cage towards her.

Liana reached for the bars to pull herself away from him, but his hand clamped onto her ankle first and drug her closer. He yanked off her boots and tossed them behind him out of the cage, and then his hands went to her pants to take them off. The more she squirmed away the more his claws dug into her skin, leaving scratches down her legs as he tore at the cloth and pulled her pants off. He removed her underwear with one flick of his wrist, and then he grabbed the hem of her wet shirt and tore it open. He grabbed ahold of her bra and yanked, bringing her chest up off the ground before the back snapped. He roughly removed the rest of her shirt, and she huddled on her side, bringing her legs up to her stomach.

She was getting a small dose of what she had done to him. She had taken his clothes, had sprayed him with water, kept him in the cage, and that's what he was doing to her. She was soaked and cold, lying on the rough bumps of the metal with the wet rust scraping against her skin. But simply recreating what she'd put him through seemed too gentle of a punishment, and she had to wonder how much father he would go for revenge. Just the thought of him raping her had her stomach churning, her insides feeling nauseous.

Liana feared that he wouldn't simply pin her down if he decided to take her either, but sedate her as she had with him. He would be able to do whatever he wanted when she couldn't move, and she would be able to see and feel everything. She would experience the whole thing, and not even be capable of struggling. She heard him move, and his shadow cast over her body. His hands were braced beside her like he was about to do a pushup, and she could see his metal mask staring down at her out of the corner of her eyes.

She tucked her legs in closer, bracing herself for whatever came next, and refusing to cry. She was tougher than that. He growled, the noise vibrating through her bones, testing her resolve. But he didn't touch her, and hadn't really harmed her, so she bravely began to turn her head to look up at him. He was not a monster. If he was, he would have already had his way with her and taken her skull.

She slowly reached up and brushed her fingers down his chest, "I'm sorry."

He yanked her hand away, and snarled, "Do not touch me just to save your life ooman. Do not think to mess with my head so."

She wasn't sure how to convey to him that her touching was not out of scientific curiosity but just from enjoying the feel of him. She doubted he would believe anything she said. And from his perspective, how could he tell? She had even studied his penis when he was sedated. Any touch from her might have very well been to examine him, or calm him to keep him under control.

Liana turned to her back from her side even though it made her feel exposed and vulnerable under him, but her nakedness did not make her more nervous than what she was about to say to him. "If I told you that I think I love you, would you believe me?" She asked softly.

With her good wrist pinned, she lifted her other hand to touch him, and his hand jerked up to grab her wrist, but his fingers wouldn't close around the bandages. She cautiously extended her hand further, and brushed her fingers down over those small spikes on his chest, feeling his heavy heartbeat through her palm. He did not answer. He was motionless, muscles rigid like unforgiving stone above her.

She waited for any answer from him, or any movement, as rejection would have been better than just silence. He was probably questioning her, thinking it was a lie-but if he was thinking about it, that meant that he cared. She slid her hand around his neck under his soft dreads, ignoring the pain in her wrist, and she lifted her head up to kiss him. His face was covered by the mask, but her eyes spotted the exposed skin under the metal, and she placed her lips right under his jaw.

A lulled purr escaped him, and his body released some of its tension. When he let her other wrist go, she quickly slipped it into his hair, feeling his dreads and causing him to utter a tempting rumble as his chest lowered closer to hers. He nudged his face into her neck and rubbed against the side of her face in a vaguely feline manner, the cold metal of his mask sliding over her skin. He leaned away too quickly. Her hands went to his mask to remove it, so she could see those amber eyes.

He turned his head away, "I go. They be here soon. Don't know who, could be trouble."

He began to lift away from her, and she panicked, quickly lifting her legs up around his hips to keep him in place, "De'aro, don't go."

"Have to." He tried to move away from her, but she hooked her arm around his neck and kept her legs tight around him, so as he sat up she was hauled upright with him.

A low rumble started in his chest, but she smacked his shoulder lightly and scolded him playfully, "Don't you growl at me!"

He paused, but then his growl deepened and he leaned forward, putting her back down, bracing his arms beside her. His chest pressed down upon her, and she could feel his chest vibrating as he growled. It had her heart racing, but she was beginning to love such a dangerous sound. She tipped her hips up, trying to press against him even though that cold metal groin cup was in her way. Liana ran her legs down his seductively, trying to win him over into staying just a little longer.

He netting around his legs and torso probably desensitized her motions, the groin cup wouldn't let them touch, and his mask prevented her from giving him a kiss though. She could still sense the tension in him. She doubted that he was going to give in, and so she felt a thick strand of his hair one last time, took her hands off of him, and dropped her legs. She felt an ache in her chest seeing him rise up off of her. She didn't want to let him go. He turned his head to look at the back of the cage, his dreads smacking against his shoulder as they swung.

After a moment, his head reluctantly turned back to her. She watched him take off his mask and hang it on the holster on his shoulder, expecting a final goodbye from him. Instead, his amber eyes locked onto hers as he began to lower his head down, his hands sliding on the insides of her thighs. Liana's heartbeat suddenly soared, becoming fast and frantic like bird wings as he spread open her legs. She felt his warm breath upon her as he pressed his face close. One simple flick of his tongue over her clit sent a bold spark straight to her core.

He pressed her legs apart further as he nuzzled his face close, and she felt his breathing kick up a notch as he smelled her. His chest vibrated with a hungry rumble. She sucked in a breath as she felt his tusk-tipped mandibles spreading her pussy lips, and she moaned as his long tongue darted inside her. Still, his face pressed closer, and she could feel his teeth pressing against her skin. His tongue swirled around inside her, probing and feeling deep within her channel.

His mandibles began to plunge inside her, moving in and out like fingers, all four of them. His hot breath upon her, he ate her like she was a buffet, licking up her juices like they were nectar. She tipped her hips up involuntarily, her jaw falling slack at the pleasure he was eliciting from her so easily. He nibbled and licked at her, her toes curling. He thrust those mandibles inside her, stretching her out, until the friction was maddening and she was left panting for breath.

De'aro lifted his face away, his tongue darting over is mandibles to lick them clean, but he was far from finished with her. He slowly crawled over her, his head dipping to nibble at her hip for a moment, and then again his teeth grazed her skin on her stomach. He lowered his head to her breasts next, taking a hard nipple gently between his sharp teeth. His hands followed next, one propping himself up as the other swept over her hips, then cupped her breasts, squeezing her supple flesh in his big clawed hand. He dropped to his elbows then, so both of his hands could play. He manhandled her breasts, squishing and squeezing them, and trailed his nails softly over her skin.

His long, thin tongue slipped across her collarbone, then up her neck, the sensation so alien to her and yet completely electrifying. De'aro's tongue dashed across her warm lips, sending tingles all through her. She let out a mewing whine though, wanting more, and lifted her mouth up to meet his. She worked her lips, and her tongue demanded entrance into his maw. If he didn't know how to kiss, she was determined to show him. He let his jaw drop some, and her tongue slipped past those sharp teeth, licking at his mouth with heater ferver. The taste of him was incredibly unique, almost like ginger, or some sort of exotic spice. She moaned into his kiss, and her hand lifted to his back, trailing across his massive shoulders and strong muscular back.

His tongue reached out into hers then, pausing to feel the roof of her mouth, softly sliding against the ridges and driving her mad. He explored her mouth then, his tongue carrying with it that slight taste of spice she enjoyed so much, and he plunged his down her throat. She had to suppress her gag reflex as he delved into her mouth and down her throat as far as he would reach, then retracted his tongue with a satisfied grumble. It was so different, so alien, and she only wanted more.

Liana's fingers soon found his hair again, stroking and squeezing the strands. The cold metal beads slid through her palm as she pulled her hand down, and then she reached back up to do it to another strand. As her fingers delved into the roots of his hair, groping at multiple strands though, his body shook with pleasured tremor. He dipped his hips down against her, the hard metal of his groin cup shoving its way between her legs. As though he had just realized that was still in place, his hand quickly went to remove it.

As he tossed the metal cup and loincloth away behind him, Liana lifted her head to get another look at his cock, too curious not to. What hung between his legs held her gaze in a terrified sort of fascination. She had thought it looked big before, but it was quickly serging to full girth now, and it was huge. In length as well as girth, he was hung. She was glad one of her previous lovers had been a black guy with a thick cock. What had ruined her sex life with other lovers with smaller endowments was the only preparation she had in being impaled by De'aro's larger-than-life, throbbing, alien cock.

That sexy musk smell washed over her as he positioned himself between her legs, stronger this time, bathing her in such a pungent and heady scent. She let her head set back down against the metal of the cage, and tried to relax her body, preparing to be assaulted with such a monster cock. He positioned himself at her entrance, then his hands went to hold her hips as he began to stuff his cock inside her passage. His chest rumbled as the tip of his cock passed through her tight sheath, stretching her out and filling her up. She couldn't help but automatically clench her walls around his cock, the girth close to painful. He seemed to enjoy that, uttering a guttural moan as he pushed further inside her tight sex.

At first, it seemed she wasn't going to be able to take in the full length of him, but at every stroke he pushed in further until she accommodated every inch of him. His body was warm when they started, but now seemed sizzling hot to the touch. Just she began to relax the walls of her channel, his teeth bit down on her neck, causing her tense up again, tightly milking his cock as he pumped inside her harder. The feel of his sharp teeth biting down ignited sparks of fire and electricity under her skin.

His animalistic grunts began to gain ferocity as he picked up his pace even more, serging in and out of her, destroying her pussy. She could feel the swing of his heavy balls smacking against her ass. His teeth released their hold and instead his hand slipped behind her neck as he fucked her faster. He could not be tamed. He was already building up an earthquake inside her loins and yet he only continued to gain pace and ferocity, vigorously pounding his way inside her.

Her back arched and she let out an elated cry as the friction sent her over the edge. Shudders of pleasure wracked through her body and with the waves of it her body released, slathering his penis with her fluids, and even getting the clear female juice up on his stomach some. Though she was no fire hydrant like some porn videos showed, when a guy was good, she would almost always have squirting orgasms. They were best kind of orgasms too, and De'aro had easily shot himself to the best fuck of her life.

She felt the hot gush of his cum disperse inside her, filling her with his seed before he withdrew, giving her that last aftershock of her orgasm. Then, out of breath, she slumped against the uncomfortable grooves of the metal, her arms falling limply at her sides. Both of them were still dripping in the gush of juices from her orgasm. He leaned away, and stared down at his torso and the odd substance her body had sprayed him with.

Liana suddenly felt ashamed of it, and said, "Sorry, I've just always been a squirter…"

She bit her lip nervously as she watched him smear his hand through it, looking at the gleaming clear fluid.

"...It's not pee, I swear." She said, feeling guilty.

Her cheeks quickly turned crimson when he lifted his hand to smell the fluid, and then his tongue came out and actually tasted it. A deep purr pulsed through the air, and he lowered his hand, looking at her then. She met his eyes with uncertainty, feeling awkward about the whole thing.

However, he leaned down on her and rumbled, "I like it. Tastes sweet."

Liana smiled up at him, then gave him a small kiss, glad he wasn't upset or grossed out. He easily scooped her up into his arms and rolled to his back, hauling her ontop of him. She knew the best thing would have been for him to leave then, as apparently rescue was still on its way, but he did not seem in a hurry to go. For at least a minute, she would not worry about it, and contented herself to laying her head on his broad chest, and listening to his steady breathing.


	14. Chapter 14

Just when she was beginning to slip into sleep, just for a short nap, he shifted, holding her body against him as he sat up. She looked up at his eyes, but they were focused on his wrist gauntlet, tiny red symbols scrolling down the screen. It looked like the alien version of a text message, and she felt him sharply exhale. He didn't look at her, and began to make his way out of the cage, still holding her. He let her feet slip to the ground and then he climbed out of the cage as well.

"They're here." he said, still not meeting her eyes.

Her thoughts raced even though she tried to keep herself calm. She almost asked if she could go with him, but she couldn't spit the words out. Instead, she asked, "Will you be back?"

"No."

"Why?" She begged.

"Can't. Privilege to hunt earth, not easy getting back. Many want turn. And if I did come, can't land same place, same hunting ground." He reluctantly looked down at her then, her eyes glazing over, and his voice softened, "You stay. Can't come with. Don't have permit, don't have high enough status. Can't."

She took in a deep breath, having known this was coming. She watched him put back on his cloth cover and groin cup. Then, she lifted her palms up to his chest, the bandages on her wrist still wet and her stitches aching, but she slid her hands over his reptilian skin and over the planes of his muscular chest. She would have one more kiss, and let him go. Her arms reached up to his shoulders, giving him a slight tug, prompting him to lean down. He remained utterly still though, eyes on the forest behind them.

"They close. You have to hide." He grabbed her forearm and drug her around to the front of her house. "Inside. Go." When she hesitated, he shoved her backwards roughly and barked, "Go! Hide!"

Her heart starting to race, she whirled around and slipped inside the front door. She didn't lock it, knowing that if one of his kind wanted inside they would be more than capable of kicking down the door. She went to the front window then, and peeked through the blinds to watch him. De'aro started to walk down the driveway, then stopped, looking at his wrist gauntlet. Liana's hands gripped the windowsill tightly as she waited.

It had probably only been a few minutes, but to her it felt like forever until two shapes crackled with blue electricity and walked up to De'aro. With the cloaking device off, she could see that they were two of his kind, two yautjas. They looked like De'aro and since he was male, she assumed they were too. They were both slightly taller than him though, and each was dressed a little different, with varying styles and color of armor.

To her, they appeared just to stand there, motionless, but she knew that they must have been talking. When of the other yautjas turned his head, seeming to look at the house, she ducked away from the window. She waited a second, then looked back out, too worried that if she waited longer to look that they all would have vanished. Thankfully, they all seemed engrossed in the conversation. He hadn't seen her.

As more time passed, she began to pick at her fingernails as she watched them, still just talking. She was naked, but had worried she'd miss something if she zipped off to dress. Liana dared to grab her robe from the bathroom though, quickly snatching it off the hook and running back to the window. She looked out seeing them all still there, and shrugged on the bathrobe, tying the straps around her. She hadn't gotten a last kiss, hadn't even received a goodbye. He didn't turn his head to look back at the house, and they all began to walk towards the forest.

Her heart flew into a panic, beating wildly against her ribcage. Just as the two others stepped into the edge of the forest, they disappeared into thin air. She watched De'aro slowly follow, waiting for him to vanish as well.

Before she knew what she was doing, she had flung open the front door and was sprinting barefoot across the gravel driveway to him. She saw the serrated blades from his wrist gauntlet drop, probably to try and scare her away, but ignored them all together and jumped up into his arms. A lightning bolt of pain shot through her bandaged wrist, the stitches no doubt starting to bleed, but she hugged her arms around his neck and her legs around his torso.

She had never been able to admit it before, that she had never truly and deeply fallen in love, convincing herself that some of her past boyfriends had been the real thing and love was just something that could fade over time. But what she felt for De'aro was stronger than anything she'd felt before. She hardly knew him, and she loved him. There was no doubt in her mind now. She loved him, and her heart could not stand to let him go.

His words stung, but she only held him closer as he said, "You weak ooman. Emotion is weakness. We are both in trouble now."

She turned her head to watch the other two of his kind return, the cloaking devices shutting off and revealing themselves again. One of them had their head slightly cocked to the side, looking at her. The other, walked straight up to them and began to talk. It was that same alien language she'd heard De'aro say before. It was a mix of clicks, grunts, and other noises tangled in with oddly pronounced words. De'aro hugged his arms around her, as the yautja continued to talk.

"Please, tell me what he's saying." She whispered.

He hesitated, and she almost thought he wasn't going to speak to her, but he translated quietly, "He is questioning my honor. I did not lie, but did not tell everything. To hide evidence is treason."

Her heart skipped a beat, and she listened to the yautja continue to talk. His stance was rigid, angry. The tendons in his neck were drawn tight and his hands were motionless at his side. He spoke quickly, and she could barely distinguish the pauses between words. She was about to ask again what he was saying, but De'aro translated without her asking.

"He says I will be evaluated, the area searched, my mask recordings audited."

"What will happen if you get in trouble? What will the punishment be?" She asked.

She hid her face in De'aro's neck when the yautja talking began to turn his head slightly, seeming like he was watching her now and not him. It made her feel uncomfortable. There was no doubt he didn't like her talking, and/or De'aro translating.

"Do not worry for me, my punishment will not be as great as yours. He wants you exterminated."

All the blood drained from her face, and her arms tightened around him, "He...he can't do that, can he? Why?"

"To protect race, protect hunting ground. You know about us. Unless you fight beside us or aid us, no one on earth can know."

"Are you going to let them kill me?" She asked, barely able to get out the words.

"We are both in trouble. I have no leverage." He pulled her arms away from his neck, and shoved her legs down, getting her off of him. She felt unstable on her own feet, but he moved her aside, as though he was just going to give her up to them. Then he said, "But I would rather die protecting your life."

As he raised the serrated blades up, she quickly jumping in front of him, "No!"

She could not stand to see him fight and be killed in front of her. It would be two against one, and his bullet wounds were not fully healed. He would die, and then they would kill her. She couldn't allow it. He looked down at her, and she thought he might just shove her aside, but she could tell even with the mask hiding his face that he was torn.

He told her why, "Do not want to fight my own...but I cannot let them kill you. Step aside, ooman."

"No, tell them it was all my fault. Tell them I shot you. Did you tell them I kept you in a cage? Did you tell them that I hid your weapons? Tell them."

"No."

"Tell them! Tell them this is all my fault. You can't just let them kill us both, are you crazy? I can't let it happen when it was all my fault. Just tell them."

"Won't help."

The other yautja had stopped talking, and she spun around to face him. He towered over her like a god, standing over eight foot tall. Alien symbols lined his armor and mask. He wanted her dead. She dared to approach him, but De'aro held her arm.

Liana didn't even know if he knew english, but De'aro had turned out to be able to speak it, she she admitted, "Everything was my fault. He is not to blame. He did nothing wrong. Please."

He considered her, metal mask staring down at her, and then he tapped on his wrist control device and said, "Ooman, repeat what you said now that a translator is activated."

She tore her arm away from De'aro and dropped to her knees, making her size even more insignificant, and said, "I shot De'aro, took away his weapons and wrist gauntlets, repeatedly sedated him, and kept him locked in a cage. I documented his behavior and anatomy. He had no choice in the matter."

"Do not lie ooman, or I will peel the skin off your skull while you still breathe. He mated you, I can smell it on your skin, and he defends you now."

"Yes, I fell in love with him. He escaped the cage on his own, and I cannot explain to you why he had any affection towards me after what I did to him, but we had sex, and...I love him...This is all my fault. Don't let him fight for my life."

"I won't." His hands went to grasp her head, one hand around the back of her skull and the other holding her chin as though he was going to quickly snap her neck and end her right then and there.

The other yautja who had been reserved to the background, just watching everything, suddenly spoke up, "Yas-ag, spare her."

His grip around her head loosened, and she felt De'aro's arms wrap around her stomach before hauling her back and away from the yautja who had been so close to killing her. He backed up, getting a good distance between him and her, De'aro's arms still around her protectively. The other yautja strolled up to them, looking down at her. For a moment, he was silent, and then he looked back at the other yautja and began to speak.

"What's he saying?" She whispered, hoping her death had not been simply postponed, but saved.

"He says they must find the documents."

She nodded, and said, "I can show you everything I wrote down, and delete the files off the computer." She needed to get in their good graces.

Yas-ag looked at her, "Show us."

They all let her lead the way into the house, and she found the folder she had been keeping everything in. She handed it to them, and then she showed them on the computer that she had deleted the backups. Liana even went to her desk and pulled out the drawings she had done of his weapons. She tried to shut the drawer and leave the very first drawing she had done of him, but they were sharper than that, and Yas-ag was suspicious.

He looked in the drawer with a growl and seized the drawing of De'aro. She watched him tear that one up right in front of her, and stuck the shreddings in the file folder with the rest of the things. They ussured her back outside, destroyed the file with a shot from the cannon on his shoulder, the remains bursting into flames and turning to floating bits of black ash.


	15. Chapter 15

They were left alone with Yas-ag, who still seemed tense and angry, while the other yautja went to search the house by himself. She knew he would be looking for other papers and evidence, and checking out the cage. Liana still felt like her life was hanging by a thread, and De'aro's strong arms around her chest seemed to be another indication that she was not off the hook just yet. Eventually, the other yautja returned. She felt nervous and uncertain.

He addressed Yas-ag first, conveying his findings no doubt. She still waited for a conviction. He turned to say something to De'aro next, then Yas-ag again. She bit down on her lower lip, threatening to make it bleed. She looked up at De'aro, trying to prompt him to translate. She was trying to be more polite and not interrupt their talking, anything to win their favor.

The other yautja stepped close, addressing De'aro, and suddenly his arms let her go. She wished she would have just interrupted and asked what was going on. Her heartbeat soared, and she stepped back, pressing herself against him. He did not move to protect her as the yautja reached out to grasp her chin.

He did not try to harm her though, and said, "You showed honor, ooman, stepping forward and taking blame even though it sentenced you to death. I cannot allow you to stay on Earth knowing what you know. However, there is another choice for you." He stepped back, looking over her body and his fingers brushed across the bandages on her wrist, "You are strong, healthy, honorable, and worthy of life. I would allow you on my ship, to go with us to our planet."

Her knees suddenly felt weak, and her lungs unable to get enough -ag uttered a disagreeing rumble, but De'aro purred and hugged Liana against him. The sky and forest was swirling around her in dizzying circles. To leave her home, to leave earth...The thought of it had her muscles feeling like rubber. She didn't know what to think. She didn't know what to say.

After a moment of silence, she just had to ask, "How...I thought he wasn't allowed to…" She couldn't construct a sentence, her mind fumbling over even the idea of going up into space.

"I cannot. Ak-an'atan is clan leader though, and has status enough to authorize it." De'aro said.

"You will be property." Ak-an'atan warned, "And you cannot be his."

"Property?" she questioned leerily.

"Yes. Aliens cannot be citizens of our planet under most circumstances. For you to be a citizen, De'aro would have to claim you as his mate, but he cannot. His status does not gain him the right to claim a mate that is not his own species. Eventually, he might be able, but not yet."

"So, I will be property...owned by…you?" She asked.

He grunted and said, "I would not take on the responsibility of caring for an ooman...De'aro will be your designated caretaker, but you will belong to the clan."

"The clan?" She was beginning to feel more lost than ever. There was still so much she didn't know about him, his kind, or his planet.

"Clan is like family, live under same rules, hunt together." De'aro tried to explain.

"...How big is the clan?" She asked quietly.

"Small, a few thousand members, but you will stay with De'aro in the clans communal house. Most live elsewhere."

Liana had to do a double-take, the answer whiplashing inside her head. There was just no way she could be property to two thousand aliens. "How many live at the house?"

"Fifty yautja usually." Ak-an'atan said.

"And I will be property to all of them? Belong to all of them?" She was still trying to grasp the concept.

"Yes."

She might have fallen backwards if it hadn't been for De'aro's hands around her holding her up, "No. I can't." she mumbled. She didn't know exactly what being property would meant for her life, didn't know the details of it, but it sounded like a nightmare.

De'aro spun her around to face him, gripping her shoulders tightly and said, "Only way to keep you alive. You will come." And without another word from her, he picked her up.

He easily flung her over his shoulder, holding her legs down. Her heart was thundering in her chest and she weakly struggled for him to let her go. They walked into the woods, and De'aro's strong grip on her never faded. He seemed determined to take her to his planet whether she wanted to or not. One minute she was a free American citizen, and the next she was being abducted by aliens and about to be taken to their planet to be property to the entire clan.

By the time they made it to the ship, the ramp dropping and a white fog rolling out, Liana was in shock. She twisted around to try and look at the spacecraft, her eyes going wide and her mouth dropping. At Least it wasn't saucer-shaped, looking more like a dark version of some of the ships off Star Wars and Star Trek. He stepped up the ramp into the ship with her on his shoulder, and Ak-an'atan following behind, but the other yautja said something and headed off. She wondered if he had another ship somewhere.

She watched the ramp close behind them, sealing them inside. The walls were dark and ornately patterned, and a dense fog swirled behind them as they walked through it. Through the terminals they passed a few small rooms. They entered what appeared to be the main room, the ceiling lifting and the room widening with a window along the entire wall. He shifted her so she was carried in his arms as he sat down into a chair in front of a huge screen.

She sat in his lap as the holograms appeared with more of the alien symbols. She watched his movements, entranced. De'aro had the ship began to lift off, and her eyes settled beyond the blue holograms and instead at the window, at the forest she was leaving.

He hadn't let her pack anything, and she was still in a red silk bathrobe. She had no idea what was out there in space or at his planet. Though she didn't see or talk to her parents much, she felt a sickening ache in her chest at having not said goodbye. The town would look for her after she was gone for a few days. Eventually they would declare her legally dead, probably attacked by a bear, and they would contact her relatives. Her parents would hold a funeral with an empty casket. Her parents had never understood why she was so fond of such brutish beasts and had always said a bear would end her.

They would never know that it was not a bear that took her daughter away, but a different beast altogether. Liana turned her head away from the ships screen, and snuggled her head against the reptilian skin of De'aro's chest, loving the slight musky smell to him. He combed his claws through her still damp hair as his chest rumbled with a soft purr. She tried to imagine an entirely new planet, an entirely new world.

She would have a chance to study so many new things, and that thrilled her. Yet, with her curiosities getting her into trouble, and his temper, this new life was going to get interesting. She had little patience, and he was quick to use his strength against her. She was hard-headed and stubborn, yet he fought for dominance over her. She loved him, but was already thinking he was going to be a pain in the ass, and he was probably thinking the same about her. She wouldn't want it any other way though.

After she watched the forest vanish, and the planet disappear, they were in the empty vastness of space and the screen was utterly black. He seemed to put the ship into some sort of autopilot and lifted her to her feet and got up from the chair. He held her forearm to drag her somewhere, but her eyes settled on the yautja named Ak-an'atan. She firmly planted her feet on the ground, trying to pull herself from his grip, and almost fell forward before he stopped. She had something she wanted to say to Ak-an'atan.

His mask was tipped down, watching her, and she said, "I can't thank you enough for this. You saved my life."

De'aro was already tugging her away when he replied, "You life seemed worth saving."

He led her down the terminals into what looked to be a small medical room. It also could have been a torture room though, as all of the devices were foreign to her. A simple table was against one wall, and he picked her up and sat her on it, her legs dangling off the side. She allowed him to take off the bandages, as they had gotten wet and needed replaced. However, as he grabbed a small tool and began to cut the stitches she began to struggle.

Liana was skeptical about what he wanted to do, and slowly slid her arm away as he brought the tool closer. He growled, and tried to grab her forearm to hold her still, but she swept her arm up and away from him. He tried to grab her arm again but she hid it behind her back playfully. He did not seem amused. His arm locked around her neck in a choke hold as the other jerked her arm back in front of her roughly.

"Stay still. Heal you." He said gruffly, and released her neck.

He forced her forearm pinned to the table, and then he grabbed the tool and began to cut and pull out the stitches. Though the bandages had gotten wet, the wound was not overly red and didn't look infected to her. She really did not want to sit through another round of painful stitches and the wound wasn't healed enough not to rip back open without them. He cautiously let her arm up then, probably thinking she would move her arm again.

She watched him touch a panel on the wall and a hidden cabinet opened up, giving her a glimpse of several metal containers on a shelf before he grabbed one out and shut cabinet. He returned to her side, and popped open the lid. The first thing that came to her mind was that it was some sort of antiseptic like Neosporin, as it looked like a thick opaque gel. He dipped his claws into it and smeared globs of it right over her wound.

She jerked her hand away then, "You're putting on too much!"

The gel itself would soak into the bandages and then the wound wouldn't be able to get any air, staying moist, and then would definitely get infected. She scowled at him. He growled at her. When she went to wipe some of the gel off her wrist though, all she could do was stare. She held both her wrists in front of her, the gel gone as well as the wound. The gouges in her wrist, the torn flesh, was just smooth skin as though it had never happened. There wasn't even a scar.

Liana snatched the container from his hand, and stared at it. The sides were covered in alien writing that she wished she could read. She lifted the container up to her nose to smell it, but it had no scent. She dipped her finger into the gel then, feeling its silky soft texture between her fingers. Then she reached out her fingers and smeared the gel onto his chest where one of the bullet wounds was. She stared at it, watching the gel soak into his skin and then the wound filled in and healed.

She suddenly had the healing power like E.T. in one finger. "What is this?" She asked breathlessly.

"Enzyme mixture, accelerates healing." he said simply, like it was no big deal.

"This is incredible…" She swung her legs up on the table and sat up on her knees to reach him better and wiped the gel onto his neck where the other bullet had hit. "Turn around now." She said, shoving at his shoulder when he resisted.

She planned on wiping more on the back of his neck where the bullet had exited. As he turned around, she swept his dreads out of the way, the metal beads clinking together. However, the gel was already getting to work. She watched as it smoothed out his skin perfectly, healing it incredibly fast. She didn't even need to wipe more gel on him, as it healed all the way through. She let him turn back around to face her. Liana shook her head lightly and put the lid on the container, knowing she was going to have to learn to trust him.


	16. Chapter 16

She hopped down from the table and carried the tin container towards the wall she had seen him get it from. She had seen him push in a small panel, and began sweeping her hands along the walls, probably looking ridiculous. She was not one to ask for help. Liana pushed on areas of the wall, trying to do what he had done, but nothing moved, no panel opened. Finally, De'aro came up behind her and pushed a panel that was above her head.

The door to the cabinet swept open to the side, disappearing into the wall, and he grabbed the container from her hand to put it back on the shelf. She watched him push the panel again, the door closing. The section of wall he had touched had the same alien symbols on it, though they had seemed invisible to her-lost in the rest of the carvings of the wall. To him, it probably said something obvious like, "push to open". Her eyes began to search the walls for more symbols, more fun hidden compartments.

But as she began to wander away from him, he quickly trudged forward and wrapped one arm around her waist, hauling her back. "Not finished." he said.

De'aro ushered her in front of a vertical scanner, and it quickly checked her health. He drug her over to another machine and had her lay down in it, shutting the hatch over her so she could be decontaminated of anything Earthly, like some microscopic organisms. She tried to squirm as he brought a needle towards her neck, but his hand grabbed her hair to hold her still as it injected a filter into her trachea that would allow her to breath the air on his planet.

He gave her another shot, and like with everything else, she just had to ask, "What was that?"

"Microchip with tracking device. Will inform changes in your health, identifies you clan property."

"A microchip? I'm not a pet!"

He let out a grunt, "You will chose, have to. Be pet or servant."

Her voice started getting more high pitched, "Those are my choices? Are you kidding me? What the hell is the difference?"

"Servant do domestic chores, stay in house. Pet is there for pleasure, do whatever clan want, go places for fun."

She heard chores for the first option and pleasure and fun for the second, and her choice was immediate, "I will be a pet then if I have to be, but I refuse to wear a collar."

De'aro leaned in close, his hands bracing the table behind her and locking her in front of him, "You will wear whatever I tell you to."

An ounce of fear began crept into her at hearing such a threat, but she brushed it off, "You don't own me buddy." She quickly slipped under his arm to escape and said, "Now show me a tour of the ship."

She stopped in the doorway when he did not follow. She turned to watch him take off his mask, exposing his mandibles and blotched forehead, and he hung it on his shoulder. Then, he undid the armor groin cup, and hung that on him as well, his darkly rimmed amber eyes boring into her. A series of clicks played out from him. She could tell his stance was tense, and when he charged at her she let out a little squeak and zipped away.

She had no clue where she was headed in the strange ship; all the walls and hallways looked the same. She just kept making turns, trying to keep him behind her. When she did not hear his footsteps so close, she flung open a door and tucked herself inside with a giggle. Of course, she had to have picked a bedroom. The bed was the centerpiece to the room, other dresser-looking furniture on the opposite wall of the small room. There was another door though, and she ran to it and threw it open.

As soon as her eyes absorbed the green-tinted muscular abs right in front of her face she backpedaled, only to realize that it wasn't De'aro. She looked up at the yautja, and green eyes stared down at her. His hair was dark brown, his blotching lighter, and he looked taller than De'aro. She took a step back, unsure who it was, but hoping it was just Ak-an'atan without all of his armor and netting.

Her eyes settled behind him at what looked like a bathroom, "Sorry."

She whirled around and opened the bedroom door, and De'aro was waiting right in front of it. She was trapped. She thought De'aro would charge in and grab her, but he was waiting at the doorway patiently. She waited for him to do something.

"What are you doing?" She asked, cocking her head slightly.

She hadn't even heard Ak-an'atan walking up behind her, but his voice was suddenly close, "This is my ship, my bedroom. It is rude to charge into ones bedroom uninvited."

"Oh, I didn't know it was even a bedroom. I'm sorry." She went to back up, but his hand reached past her to slide the door closed.

A tingle of fear ran through her, but she was determined not to be intimidated by these large muscular aliens if she was to live with so many of them. She had worked with grizzly bears for years, and these aliens were no more of a danger than that. Besides, he had saved her life-She should have had nothing to fear. It was awkward though, standing so close to him.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Liana."

"Liana, may I touch your hair?"

"Yea, sure." She answered nervously.

His hand reached out to brush his claws through her long hair, his head tilting as he did. "I would not think to touch you without permission, as you are a female, and females are dominant on our planet. However, you should stay close to De'aro once we reach our home, as there are many that find you mere prey, and prey that will now be their property. You may be female, but you are not strong like our species females, and there are some that would take advantage of that." His hand left her hair and he continued, "I can only apologize in advance for any behavior from my clan that you find as a mistreatment towards you."

She nodded her head, and said confidently, "If I can handle De'aro, then I can handle the rest of your clan."

"I hope so, as I'd like to keep you around for a while." As he turned away she looked at the door to leave but he said, "Before we land, there is one thing I wish to do with you first." He grabbed a piece of his armor from where it hung on the wall and walked back up to her.

She leaned in closer as he extended out the armor for her to see, tapping on a particular symbol etched into the metal, "What is it?" she asked, unsure of where this was going.

"It is our clan symbol. I wish to burn it into your skin, to mark you permanently. To be marked by a yautja is a high honor. Will you allow me to mark you?"

"Why? What's the purpose?" It sounded too painful just to agree to.

"It can mean many things, but in your case I hope to send a message to the rest of the clan as well as other yautjas. Everyone that sees that mark will know you are under protection, and a valued possession that deserves respect."

He seemed to sense her uncertainty and said, "Most yautja cannot speak english, and translators can be very expensive. In an emergency, if you cannot tell them which clan you belong to, you could be kidnapped. The microchip and tracking device can be easily removed. The mark ensures your safety, gains you respect, protection, and value. It is a mark all yautja will see and recognize."

She knew it was going to hurt, but would become something she'd regret not doing if she said no, "Alright."

"Follow me then."

He headed out the door, past De'aro that was still waiting for her, and she followed close behind him. He led her back to the small medical room she'd been in before and pushed a different panel. Another hidden cabinet opened up, and he grabbed out what looked like a cordless wood burning tool with a metal tip. As De'aro followed in behind them, she looked at him with worry.

This was going to hurt, and she just had to ask, "Do I get to pick the location of it? Its size? Can it be tiny?"

Ak-an'atan quickly replied, "No; it must be placed on your sternum. As for size, it will be small, but still readable from a distance. Go ahead and sit up on the table so I can reach you better."

She went to jump up onto the high table when De'aro grabbed her waist and hauled her up. She pushed away his fingers, hating being treated like a child, "I could have done that myself."

He growled at her and pulled open her rope, making her yell and quickly cover back up her chest before Ak-an'atan saw her. Her cheeks turned red and she glared at De'aro. He tucked his mandibles tight to his face, looking smug. Ak-an'atan grabbed a different container from the cabinet from the others, and parted her robe just enough to smear her skin with a thick green cream.

"What's that?" She asked.

"Pain blocker."

She let out a sigh, her shoulders dropping some tension and breathed, "Thank God."

When he pushed the metal to her skin over her sternum, she could feel the heat, but not the pain. The smell was awful, but she watched him trace the ornate symbol into her flesh, branding it into her. She'd never allowed one of her old boyfriends to give her a tattoo, and now she was allowing herself to be branded by aliens. She worried when the green cream wore off that the pain would return, the wound would peel, and itch.

When he was done, Ak-an'atan smeared on more the the cream, pulled her rope more closed, and said, "When De'aro claims you as his mate, he may chose to mark your sternum with his name, but other than that your skin has no other need to be marked. If it starts to pain you, tell him, and he may put more of the painkiller onto it."

Liana hopped down off the table before she could be helped down, and watched Ak-an'atan put away the containers and branding tool. Her robe did not go all the way to the floor, only covering down to her knees, and De'aro's hands found their way up her thighs to grab her ass. She let out a hiss and quickly shoved his hands away before Ak-an'atan caught them. Ak-an'atan merely gave them unconcerned glance before heading out of the room

As soon as he was out of sight, De'aro's arms began to explore under her robe again, his hands groping at her supple flesh and he pulled her back against him with a tempting purr. She lifted her hands up, gently tugging on the strands of his hair. His chest rumbled and one of his hands slid down between her legs. A finger slid between her moist folds and began to rub at her, and she rose on her tiptoes at the pleasure.

As he began to remove her robe though, she tried to squirm away from him. The door to the room was still open and she did not want to be caught doing anything naughty. She'd gotten over her exhibitionist faze when she was a teenager. She held the fabric tightly closed even as he growled.

"You never showed me a tour of the ship." She said, trying to distract him.

"Show you guest bedroom first." He grabbed her arm to haul her towards the door.

Just to tease him, once they were in the hallway she slipped out of his grip and ran in the opposite direction. He chased after her closely, his boots stomping against the hard floor, until she found the control room again and his arm finally caught her. She let out a giggle as he swept her back to him, and his hands began to explore her body again. Liana's heart was racing, her body reacting to his touching so strongly, but she tried to fight him off lest Ak-an'atan see them.

As she began to wiggle away though, he shoved her up against the wall and pressed his body close, pinning her there. His foot shoved at hers, sliding her legs wider apart as his hands began to pull her robe up. He shifted his cloth covering out of the way as well, and she felt his hard cock pressing against her.

She shoved at his broad shoulders, "He'll see us! Let me go!"

"Let him watch." he purred, "I will have you smell of my musk, everyone know you're mine."

"De'aro! You can't do that! Let me up!" she begged.

When he didn't ease up, she only knew of one thing that might make his arms relax enough for her to slip away. Both of her hands delved into his hair, gropping at the thick strands, but she must done it too hard or something. As she squeezed so many of them, a shaking tremor jolted through his body and he dropped to his knees, taking her to the ground with him. He seemed even more aroused now, his skin beginning to burn hot.

His hands grabbed her legs behind the knees and crushed them up and against the floor, forcing her hips to tip up to him, giving him perfect access. As Ak-an'atan entered the control room, she let out squeek and hugged her arms up around his back to try and hide her breasts. She was glad De'aro was so much bigger then her, easily hiding her under body under him so there wasn't much else to see.

De'aro began to grind his hips down on her, sending sparks through her body, but she quickly smacked his back, "Don't you dare! He is right there!"

As De'aro let out a growl, Ak-an'atan turned to look down at her, "Are you needing any assistance?"

She tapped her fingers on De'aro's back casually, "Nope, I think I've got everything under control…"

She watched him turn away and sit in the chair, bringing up the blue holograms and then he said, "We will be landing soon."

"Good. Good." She turned to stare up at De'aro, and whispered, "Get up before you crush me!"

He growled and ground his hips against her. The more she tried to struggle the more heated she became, and her fingers found their way into his hair again, letting her fingers slide past the metal beads. She eyed Ak-an'atan who looked occupied, and then gave De'aro a kiss, sliding her tongue into his mouth to get another taste of that spice. His chest vibrated against her with a deep purr. When the screen on the ship turned from sheer black however, to a huge planet suddenly looming in the back she went back to trying to shove him off.

"Let me up, I mean it! I want to see it!"

Finally, he listened, and lifted away from her. Liana quickly fixed her robe, and went to go stand closer the the window. The planet looked huge, and the immediate difference from earth was that it was not covered in that much water. Huge rivers instead created deep blue veins through the dark brown earth. They were so big even so far away, she supposed they would look like oceans if you were standing and looking at them.

As the ship grew nearer, she could see the smaller rivers that branched off, and then began to see the cities and buildings. They seemed to descend on a city between lands of rainforest and desert, the buildings looking like pyramids, skyscrapers, and round orbs. They landed on top of building similar to a fat skyscraper and the roof began to sink like an elevator down into the center of the house.

She was so excited, and ran back to De'aro shoving at his stomach, "Come on! Lets go! I wanna go see the house!"

De'aro began to happily corralled her to the door and then the other yautja joined her side. They exchanged a conversation in that alien language, and Liana almost asked what they were saying, but her thoughts got distracted. It occurred to her that she was arriving to his planet in a skimpy red bathrobe. She nervously tied the straps around her tighter.


	17. Chapter 17

She wasn't sure what to expect, but as the doors opened she walked down the ramp into a huge room crammed full of other ships. As they all stepped off the ramp, the door closed, and machinery lifted away the ship like it was a little toy and placed it tucked away on a far wall with the rest. The roof lifted back up through the house like an elevator. They began heading for a door, and Liana followed beside them.

Immediately through the door there were two yautja waiting, and they addressed Ak-an'atan and then De'aro next. Then, their eyes settled on her, and stayed on her. She wasn't sure if they were going to go through introductions or have to translate but two other yautjas farther down the hall began to talk so loud they stole the spotlight away from her. She watched them get closer, facing eachother, trying to talk down and intimidate the other. Before she knew it, they were fighting.

Their anger was so explosive, she didn't even know who hit first. All of the sudden there was growling and hitting, deep thuds with a punch to the gut, and fierce smacks when one got punched in the face. They hit against the wall with a boom, they grappled, and then the fight went to the ground. It was so sudden, so brutal, Liana found she couldn't turn away. It sounded like a bunch of wrestling alligators.

One of them locked their legs around the others chest, tightening around the others body so hard even Liana could see the yautjas chest beginning to cave in with broken ribs. Finally, the horrifying cracking and loud snap of breaking bone from the opposite yautja ended the fight. One had a broken arm, bright green blood gushing around the white bone sticking out of its flesh. The other probably had all of its ribs broken, as it seemed pained to even stand, and had difficulty breathing.

They still growled at each other, but scrambled away without a clear winner. The fight had been so fast, it left Liana standing there wide-eyed with shock, "What hell was that over?"

"A female, probably." De'aro said casually.

He began to push her down the hall and they stepped over the vibrant green blood to turn the corner, heading down the maze of ornate walls. The doors had symbols on them, and there were occasionally weapons and bones hung up on the walls for decorations. She assumed he would lead her to his bedroom, especially since Ak-an'atan had turned off and gone his own way, but instead he drug her inside a different sort of room all together.

Her eyebrows shot up as soon as she entered, as the walls appeared to be made out of skulls. Every inch of wall and ceiling was covered in skulls, small skulls even sitting in the eye sockets of bigger skulls. Fangs and spikes and alien creatures stared at her from every possible angle. It was a trophy room, and so many dead things gave her the creeps.

De'aro corralled her over to one of the closer skulls, and he pointed to its teeth. Liana had to get a closer look, taking notice that there was a symbol etched into one tooth, and she recognized it as the biggest symbol on the side of De'aro's metal mask. It must have been his trophy, one he had killed.

She was correct in her thinking as he said, "I kill."

She nodded, and then her eyes started to wander to a skull beside it. It had tiny eyes, and huge teeth, and an elongated skull. She noticed the mark on its teeth was not his, and when he saw her looking at it he quickly pulled her arm to show her a different one. He pointed to a short, fat skull with jagged teeth like a shark that bore his mark etched into its jaw. A skull above it caught her attention however, as it was white but with light grey veins through it almost like marble.

Again, he caught her eyes wandering and grunted as he made her move on. He pointed to another one of his skulls, yet it was in the middle of a ring of larger skulls, some which possessed polished horns and serrated tusks. His hand grabbed her jaw and jerked her head to the right, as he pointed to a different skull that looked similar to a giant crocodile. She went over to it, her hands hovering to touch it, but out of the corner of her eye she spotted such a cute skull.

Liana zipped over to look at the tiny skull. It was adorable, with big eye sockets and it was so perfectly round and smooth with a pearl-like finish to it. This time, De'aro growled at her for getting distracted, but didn't pull her away. He allowed her to look at all the skulls, skipping over the ones that were his for other more interesting skulls. There were ones that looked like rock, or minerals. There were skulls that looked nothing like skulls, missing the main components of teeth, eyes, and brain region.

The texture of some of the skulls were unique, bumpy or with ridges. Walking around the room she quickly picked out a favorite, as it had delicate appendages that looked like sea fans, the ridges on its head and cheeks looking like intricate webbing or lace. The mark between its eyes was not De'aro's symbol. Thinking of him then, she straightened up and looked around the room for him, only to find him sulking in the doorway, not looking at her.

Liana suddenly felt bad, realizing that these meant something to him, though she was not sure what yet. There were so many though, kept by so many different people as all the symbols varied, so they had to be of importance. He had tried to show her his, and she had ignored him. An apology was on the tip of her tongue, yet she wondered if she could do better than that.

She searched for his marking on a skull that he hadn't pointed out to her, but that proved to be difficult. The room was big, and crammed with so many skulls it was like playing I-spy trying to find the tiny markings on each for one that matched his. She tried to go in rows, but the skulls were arranged more in patterns, and she kept wondering if she had checked ones before or not. And, there were still skulls on the ceiling that she couldn't get to to read the symbol.

She was getting bored and frustrated searching, and even though she felt bad, she was about to give up. Liana checked one more row, crouching down to examine the skulls at her feet and slowly stood, going up the line, her eyes pinpointing the tiny symbols on each. On her tiptoes to try and see the higher up ones then, she spotted his symbol on a skull. She looked over to De'aro who was still staring blankly out into the hall.

She tried to act surprised, and said, "Oh, look at this one!" Sadly, he did not even turn to look at her. Not discouraged however, she said, "De'aro, come here. What animal is this one from?"

He walked over to her as she pointed. She couldn't reach the skull but he could, and he gestured to the one beside it.

"No, to the left. That one." He let out a purr as he pointed to his and she said, "Yea, that one."

It sort of looked like a sloth's skull, very compact and round but with flat sides and small eyes. Its teeth looked like alligators-some of the bottom teeth stuck up past the top jaw, and some from the bottom jaw stuck down past the bottom jaw. He removed it from the hooks it was one and brought it down closer for her to see. As her hands reached out to touch it however, he jerked it away.

She tried not to roll her eyes and said, "I won't drop it." He cautiously brought it back to her hands, and let her hold it. She looked it over, admiring it, and then had to ask, "Why keep the skulls? Why not the pelts and other bones?"

"Do keep pelts. But skulls special, and easier to identify species than with other bones sometimes."

"So they are trophies?"

"Yes, but more too. Show status, skill, win females...propose to females with skulls."

A smile crept to her lips, "Your kind proposes with skulls?"

"...Yes...to give female skull is to propose."

"So is that why you gave me that rabbit skull?"

"No!" He barked. She was surprised with his sudden anger, his muscles tensing and then he uttered a chilling growl.

She fell silent, and handed him back the skull. No one on Earth had ever proposed to her either, so she figured it wasn't a big deal. She watched him return the skull back to its place above her head on the wall, and then turned to head out the door to continue the tour. His hand caught her waist though, and hauled her back. With her facing him, he dipped his head down to nuzzle his mandibles into her neck.

"Ashamed I gave you skull. Skull not worthy. Not trophy." When she didn't perk up, he continued, "I propose will better skull, bigger. I show you."

He leaned away but grabbed her wrist to pull her to the farthest side of the room where there was another door. It led into another room of skulls, and that one let into another and another. Finally, he brought her inside a room with bare walls that wasn't crammed full of skulls. Instead, there was only one skull. That one skull however, was enormous. The skull looked to be around twenty feet tall, and she couldn't even pick out any eye sockets. The only thing she could compare it to was a triceratops skull without the horns, but was still immensely different.

"What is that thing?" She asked, astonished at its size as well as shape.

"Xenomorph queen." His arms wrapped around her from behind, "That what I get. Then, propose."

Warm fuzzies were invading her, and she leaned back against him, "How about a tour of your bedroom next?"

She felt a surge of heat from his skin, and he all but tore her limb off to drag her back out into the hallway to bring her to his room. They passed a few other yautjas in the halls, but as they stared at her, De'aro payed no attention to them whatsoever. He was dead set on getting her to his room.

"Slow down!" She was practically jogging beside him.

De'aro slowed only to pick her up into his arms. She squirmed at first, finding the position uncomfortable and embarrassing, but then let him carry her without complaint. When they reached the door marked with his symbol, his name, he all but kicked the door down. Inside, she got a glimpse of the fur-topped bed before he flung her on top of it, her body bouncing slightly in the soft bed. He jumped on top of the bed like a jungle cat, and butted her legs apart with his head. She wouldn't be getting any sweet foreplay this time, as he was ready just to jump right to the barbaric fucking.


	18. Chapter 18

She was left panting, covered in sweat, her head tainted with the smell of his musk. His heavy chest was upon her as he drew in deep breaths. They had frozen in position with him on top of her, just letting their climaxes subside. Her arms dangled loosely around his neck, his waxy dreads hanging down around her. She let her eyes close and her face turn to the side, her cheek rubbing against the silky soft furs on the bed.

Now, she would be greeting the clan members apparently smelling of sex and his musk. When she began to stretch out her arms and wiggle, he rolled off of her and out of the bed. She scissored her legs in the thick furs, loving the feel, and then found herself extending her arms to him to be helped out of bed. Already, she was becoming spoiled by his size and strength. De'aro happily scooped her up out of bed and set her on her feet.

She began to tie the robe closed, but then asked, "Do you have anything else I could put on?"

He seemed to think for a moment, and then he said, "No. Will go buy clothes."

She tied the bathrobe straps around her, and followed De'aro out of the room. The house was a labyrinth of hallways and doors, elevators, and most without windows. Each floor of the building seemed to be made up of the center with the ship hangers, then rooms, more rooms, finally to an exterior set of rooms and hallways that did have windows. They had to ride an elevator down to the ground floor, and then out a door with two guards standing watch.

The outside looked like a strange version of New York city, the roads paved with stone but covered in a thin coating of dry tan dirt that shifted when the wind blew. For as big as the city was, it wasn't crowded with citizens walking around outside and there were no cars. The sky looked empty, right up until the moment of landing when the ships invisibility was dropped. She supposed without the cloaking devices you wouldn't be able to see much of the sky with all the traffic.

She waited for De'aro to show the way, but he did not move. When she looked up at him he finally said, "Walking not efficient, underground transport better, faster. Wanted you see outside though."

"It is different." Her eyes went back to the giant stepped pyramid-like building tucked behind some of the others.

"No shoes. We go back inside."

"Oh yea." She looked down at her own bare feet. She had forgotten her lack of shoes with how warm and clean the floor in the building had been. "You could just carry me though."

De'aro perked up, and scooped her up into his arms, "Thought you no like being carried."

"I'm coming around to it...and you said we were buying clothes, right? So when we buy shoes then I'll be able to walk around on my own."

She was the alien now that she was on his planet, and the more everyone stared at her, the more she felt like an alien. She was embarrassed and nervous from being carried around the city in a bathrobe, but two entirely different worries came to her mind eventually. For one, she was starting to worry that she had been taken to a planet made almost exclusively made of the male species. Secondly, she was beginning to worry just what sort of clothes he was going to provide her.

Liana couldn't tell the males from the females just yet, until she spotted a yautja with breasts that was swarmed by many children. Those females always had babies strapped to them and were followed by several younger children. Unless she was babysitting, it appeared that his kinds females had many children. And each female having that many, meant there were fewer females on the planet than males.

Besides the problem she was having differentiating between the males and females, she was growing concerned with what they were wearing. De'aro wore jewelry and a loincloth cover just as Yas-ag had when he'd taken off all the armor on the ship. Most of the citizens seemed to wear the same casual loincloth of varying designs, but she was starting to notice that the females hardly wore even that. Every female she caught with children seemed to wear a thong-like cover and nothing more, not even skull jewelry or anything. Outside was a cozy warm eighty degrees, but she was not going to walk around in a thong and sandals. They might not view breasts as an erogenous zone, and only something for breast feeding, but hers would remain covered.

Liana wasn't sure what to expect from the selection of clothes, or even what the store would look like-or if it would be a store at all. Maybe they could design their own clothes and print them out, as she'd seen futuristic designs of on Earth. However, they entered a building that was shorter but similar to De'aro's house, and it turned out to be a sort of mall. The center was empty, and you could see all the way up to roof, and all of the floors. He set her down on her feet, and began to lead her through the crowds and past shop fronts.

Inside one of the shops for clothes, De'aro let her wander and look around for anything she liked. Liana was entranced by the clothes with pelts like snake-skin, ostrich, furs of all sorts, and some with soft sheen to them. She didn't want to walk around in what was considered lingerie though, if that even existed for them, and she tried to pick out things that were a little more plain.

Among the more revealing clothes she found things better suited to her, like skirts, shorts, tank tops, and tube tops. She wouldn't know how to read their sizes, but she couldn't even find tags though. So even when she found things she liked, she had trouble finding the right size. All of them seemed too big. When De'aro noticed she was having trouble, he finally stepped in to help. He picked out a gorgeous black mesh thong.

She shook her head though, "I can't wear that anywhere, just help me find this in the right size." she held up the tank-top looking shirt.

He growled, and picked out a grey and tan marbled, leather bikini top. She shook her head, and held up a fur tube top instead. He showed her a thong that looked like it was made out of feathers, and she held up shorts. De'aro showed her a pair of g-strings, and she shoved them away.

"You're no help." She grabbed a few different pairs of shorts that seemed to be around the right size for her, and asked him, "Where's the dressing room?"

"None. Don't have one."

"You're telling me this big store doesn't have a dressing room anywhere?" She began to search around, looking for anything that might be a changing room, even if it was just a hung curtain, but there was nothing. "How am I supposed to know if these fit?"

"Just put them on."

"What, right here in the middle of the store?" She asked sarcastically.

"Yes."

"What the hell! There is absolutely no way I am doing that. People will see!"

His hand went to her robe where it was tied, but her hand held the fabric together tightly as he said, "Your smell more tempting than body. Try cover up skin, don't matter." When she was still tense, he gestured to a yautja, "See, female. Changing."

Not that she wanted to constantly be checking their genitals to determine sex, one glance between the yautjas legs told her it was indeed a female as there was no manly bulge under the cloth. She watched the woman take off the cloth covering she was wearing and try on a different pair, right in front of her, right in the store. So many thoughts went through her head, the first one was eww.

"That's just gross...without underwear…"

"Everyone clean." He huffed, though she wasn't about to belive it.

His hands began to pry at hers, and she decided to try and distract him, "How do you tell males from females?"

He cocked his head at her, looking very confused.

"I mean, the females don't even have breasts!"

"Nipples. Females, flat breasts, until suckling pups."

She wasn't sure about his english translation of _pups_, but she had noticed before that De'aro didn't have nipples. Maybe she just wasn't paying enough attention to the details. It was funny though, that his definition of a female came down to _nipples_. Her amusement left her as his hands untied the straps to her robe.

"Stop it! I'm serious!" On a private ship in front of a guy was one thing, but in a mall full of so many aliens in the middle of a store, was an entirely different thing.

When he didn't immediately let go of the fabric, she punched him, though all that accomplished was making her hand hurt. He forced his hands onto her bare skin, parting the silky fabric, and so this time she punched him in the face, as hard as she could. His mandibles twitched, and he leaned away from her stiffly. She could tell that his body was rigid and tense. angry. With the fight that happened just outside the ship, she was beginning to believe that his kind had a serious temper problem.

His hands clenched to tight fists as his sides, and she worried that he would strike her. Liana closed her robe, and began to back away from him. His amber eyes stayed on her, no doubt beginning to see red. When his hand extended, she flinched, but he merely grabbed one of the pairs of shorts she'd set down beside her, and held them out to her.

"Dress. Now."

"I can't," she begged, "everyone is staring."

"They no watch. Bodies are bodies, everyone same."

Her eyes darted around the store at the yautjas within it, who were all undoubtedly staring at her. They looked away when she turned her head to look at them, not wanting to meet her eyes, but they were watching. She didn't feel the same as them, wasn't the same as them. They were curious about her and they stared as though waiting to see her change her clothes. It may have been just harmless curiosity, but it made her so nervous.

"Dress." he snarled, his voice a deadly threat.

She would not be pushed around by him, "No."

He grabbed her wrist, and despite her protests, he yanked the bathrobe down off her shoulders. Her eyes began to water as she looked around, seeing so many alien eyes on her. She tried to cross her legs and covered her breasts with her other arm. She'd never been so humiliated. His grip on her wrist tightened painfully as he thrust the shorts at her for her to take them.

"De'aro, let me go, please. Can't you see that everyone is staring?"

"You're making scene, being difficult!" he said coldly, but did begin to look around.

Other females looked through the clothes, glanced at them, and then went back to looking. A yautja she could only assume was some sort of owner or manager, as he kept standing at the door, had his eyes locked on her body. He looked ferocious, having spikes even on the side of his face like a beard, and his eyes were so red. Though De'aro had seemed uncaring before, now he growled at the man to get him to look away.

"They never see ooman before." He said, but after a moment of indecision he dropped her wrist and pulled her red robe back around her, covering her back up.

He looked around the store for a minute, and then began picking up clothes from one table and setting them on another.

"What are you doing?"

He glanced at her, but then went back to work, and cleared two tables. Then, he lifted up the rectangular table and carried it to a back corner of the store. He retrieved the second and did the same, setting them up lengthwise like doors beside each other. De'aro put his arm around her waist and shuffled her behind the tables like they were one of those folding room dividers. He retrieved the clothes she had wanted to try on, handed them to her, and then he leaned down for his tongue to lash out at her neck, as his hand went into her hair.

His voice had softened, "Now, change."

As she began to undo her bathrobe though, she heard a voice from behind the tables beginning to sound upset. She couldn't understand the words, but she could hear the tension in his voice as he got closer. De'aro jumped out from behind the screen and she could hear his heavy footsteps as he began to yell back at whoever obviously didn't approve of him moving around the tables. She heard a bubbling growl from the other yautja, but as it faded, De'aro popped his head behind the screen to watch her.

She changed as quickly as she could, trying not to burden the manager/store owner guy. Whatever didn't fit, De'aro went and exchanged for a different size. The things she liked, he put in a pile. When she was done, she had a whole stack of clothes, and she was ready to go through and pick out her favorites when he scooped them up and took them to the counter. She was about to object to him buying her so many clothes at once, but she saw him add the other things he had picked out to the pile as well, so she assumed it was all affordable.

Liana would have objected about his selection of thongs and bikini tops, but she figured it all could be worn under the clothes she had chosen, or just in the room alone with him. She tied her robe and went to watch him, as it looked like a self-checkout sort of thing. He scanned a part of the bottom inside of each garment and then placed his hand on a tablet-sort of pad and it seemed to scan his hand to pay. No coins, no cash, and not even a card was necessary.

Liana was ecstatic, "I wanna do that! Do you set up some account or something and then just have it scan your fingerprints to pay?"

He ignored her question and handed her a top and bottom to wear, and ushered her back behind the table. She slipped into the shorts and a tank top, and then De'aro returned the tables and the clothes he'd moved to their rightful place. She expected him then to get a bag for the clothes, but instead he put them into a slot of a strange machine on the wall.

"What does that do?"

"Deliver to house."

She nodded, noting how nifty that was that you didn't have to carry around bags or stuff a car full of boxes. She followed beside him out of the store, and to the next, hoping that he was going to show her some shoes next. She could change shoes in front of people. Though it had been endearing, she really didn't want him juggling around tables at every store they went to. Eventually, she was going to have to deal with being stared at.


	19. Chapter 19

He had taken her to buy shoes next, and she was glad the yautja apparently did not wear high heels as he would have probably bought the horrible things if they did have them. De'aro bought her jewelry next, and then what looked like paint but he described as makeup. She didn't intend on wearing it, but he had insisted. Next, he took her around to buy different sorts of feminine products, and anything else she saw she wanted. She felt spoiled rotten, but was loving it.

Dressed like them, and feeling a little less shy, she asked, "Where are we going now? Somewhere fun? What do you guys do for fun anyway?"

"Fun?" He almost asked it like there wasn't a yautja translation for it, but then he said, "I show you. Come."

He led her through the city to a yautja standing with some animals, and as she stared at the beasts, she began to regret asking about what he did for fun. They were roughly horse-sized, but looked more like a camel in the way that their neck was curved funny, their body was fat, and their legs were skinny. They had small, oddly cream colored eyes and their ears were like a werewolves or a great dane. The ears were tall and skinny, and so pointed that at the very tip they flopped over some, unable to stand straight up.

De'aro talked to the yautja standing among them, and then the guy put on a saddle and brought out one of those tablet things for De'aro to pay. When De'aro turned to her, she began to back away with uncertainty, but he grabbed her and threw her on top of its back. He sat right behind her, and her hands held on tightly to the saddle as he gave it a command. The animal began a silly trot, and De'aro wrapped his arms around her. Liana relaxed, having thought it would be a high-speed race through the city for some fun.

She watched the animals tall ears wobble around in front of her until they arrived in front of a strange orb shaped building and he hopped off the animal. He quickly grabbed her off of it and lowered her to the ground, and the animal began to trot away.

"Where's it going? Shouldnt you…" She watched it turn a corner and disappear.

"Goes back to owner. Knows where. Ride is timed, cost depends." He grabbed her waist and tugged her inside the door with him.

Her heart jumped at seeing so many of them, so many yautja all crowded together in the room. The place was dim, but sharp streaks of color danced about. There was no music, only the deep vibrating bass beats. There was furniture strewn about, tables littered with food and drink. It was a club. He'd brought her to his species equivalent of a club, and it looked to be a naughty club at that.

As she followed behind De'aro, slithering herself between the massive bodies, her eyes looked around the room with fascination. The ceiling held her interest first. Spanning across the entire ceiling was lengths of brown rope, weaved and tied to look similar to a spiders web. A naked female yautja was tied to it, one leg bent slightly and the other straight, her arms held out to her side and her long dreads draping down to the crowd. It looked like some erotic form of japanese shibari bondage.

Around the room, there were more, males and females, tied up in rope. One male was suspended on the wall by his arms, his legs spread, his body dripping with that looked like blood. A female hung upside down from her legs in the corner, the rope around her body in decorative zig-zags. Many bodies were scattered about the walls and hung down from the ceiling, covered in paint, wax, or blood.

When they made their way through the crowd to the back wall there were glasses and a touch screen where she watched De'aro mix his own drink. It was thick like a smoothie, chestnut colored, and as he handed it to her the glass felt like it was room temperature, not chilled or anything. She gave it a hesitant smell, and then stared at the glass, which didn't have a smooth edge like the cups at home, but instead had a swoop like a pitcher. She supposed that made it easier for them to drink as they had to lips, but she turned the cup around and sipped it from the flat edge instead.

It didn't taste bad, but she had to ask, "This isn't an alcoholic beverage or drugged is it?"

"No drug or alcohol, illegal most all districts."

"Ok." She took another sip, trying to figure out the flavor.

The lights began to dim, then to almost darkness then returned and De'aro quickly grabbed her arm to pull her along with him to an empty piece of furniture. It wasn't quite a couch, but more of a short, big round cushion that dented in slightly. When she crawled into it, she found it was incredibly soft like foam, and amazingly comfy. De'aro crawled in next to her, and then just stared at her.

"What are you doing?" She asked, leaning up to take another sip of the strange drink.

"Just wait."

The lights dimmed again, the room going dark for a split second, "Wait for...what?"

"You'll see." he purred.

She watched others who were standing beginning to sit down together or lean on the walls and furniture. A dense fog began to roll from the back of the club, and just as one couple was engulfed in white, the male grabbed the female and bent her over. Her eyes went wide as she watched him penetrate her, and fuck her with her arms braced against the wall. As the fog grew thicker, beginning to reach her and De'aro, she noticed more were acting in the same way, groping and beginning to shove clothes aside.

She should have known De'aro was naughty and would have brought her to a sex club, but she couldn't believe it. Liana crossed her arms tightly around her chest and waited for him to touch her. The fog quickly covered them both, so thick she could hardly see an inch in front of her, and she could feel a sudden change in the air. Her heart began to race, and she felt out of breath. Her head felt sort of dizzy, but she couldn't bring herself to voice her concerns before an utterly different feeling invaded her.

Her entire body ached, from her fingers to her lips to her toes, but they did not ache out of pain, but from desire. Her loins swelled and burned, her nipples growing hard, and even just moving her own arms created bolts of pleasure through her body. Her own fingers touching each other, her own hands on her body had her center burning with want. She licked her lips and whimpered with the tingling pleasure even that produced. If the fog was not a drug, then it was a pheromone of some sort, designed to send people over the edge.

Her hands reached out blindly to touch someone, anyone, and she found De'aro laying beside her. Her heart was pounding in her chest, threatening to break right out of her ribcage as her palms slid against his skin. Electricity sparked in her loins, too painful to ignore, and she jumped on top of him, straddling him. She moaned loudly as her center brushed up against his hardening manhood even with it hidden behind that cloth. Her hips began to move on their own, gently undulating against him. She felt like a cat in heat; she felt deprived of touch. She felt out of control.

Her breathless moans were joined with hundreds of others, everyones heavy breathing, pleasured rumbles, and purring. But as quickly as the fog had come, it dissipated, and the lights began to slowly blink on and off. Her heart rate began to drop, and she stared down at De'aro, feeling insane. The colorful light show continued as normal, and the couples broke apart to continue mingling. She slowly lifted herself off of him, and went to pick up the glass she had dropped.

It was sitting beside the furniture, unbroken, and a little robot was already cleaning up the mess. When she went to grab the cup, it snatched it from her and disappeared under a floor tile with it. She blinked a few times, sat back up, and turned to stare at De'aro. He had a smug look on his face.

"This place is just too weird…" She mumbled.

His hand brushed her cheek, "No like?"

She shook her head, unsure of what to say, then she climbed out of the comfy furniture and headed back to the wall to make her own drink. She wasn't surprised to find De'aro hovering behind her. She grabbed a glass, picked something at random, and began to drink it. It wasn't nearly as good as De'aro's mix but she wasn't about to tell him that.

"Come, see fights."

He held her waist and led her to another room of the club, where there was triangles in the floor, mesh dividers, and cages all with yautjas fighting within them. She guess that she was supposed to be impressed by it all, but it just looked trivial to her. Hunting and fighting had never been her thing. At least it wasn't the quick and horrid fight she had seen outside the ship, but instead was more like professional boxing, wrestling, or martial arts.

He led her around the fights, green drops of blood splashing up on her face at one point. She liked the lights in the club better than this room, and was about to tell him she was leaving when they came up to a huge pit in the floor, other yautjas gathering around. As she leaned in to look, she heard terrible screeching and her eyes focused on two pale yellow alien animals fighting. They looked like diseased ferrets, and she jumped at one ripped the head off the other.

Pale blue blood painted the walls of the pit, and all the yautjas, including De'aro gave a roar of excitement. She felt sick to her stomach already, and then she watched a yautja step up with two other aliens in its hands. They were much smaller, and looked like cute chubby iguanas. He threw one into the pit, and the bigger ferret-like thing grabbed it between its jaws and shook its head, beating the iguana against the walls of the pit before it swallowed it down.

Liana was already making it to the yautja before he raised the other one up to throw it into the pit. She shoved her way through the crowd, and snatched the animal right out of the guys hand, losing her balance on the edge of the pit. She cradled the iguana against her chest as she began to tilt backwards, but De'aro's hand pulled her back to him with an angry growl. He tried to grab at the animal in her hand, but she squirmed and jerked away from him.

"You can't just kill it!" She yelled.

"Is food for champion, is nothing. Let it go." De'aro snarled.

Liana tried to pull away from him, but the yautja she had stolen the animal from grabbed her from behind and thrust her to the ground with the iguana still clutched to her chest. She felt the wind knocked out of her and her head hit with an audible crack. His black claws closed around her throat. Multi-colored stars swam in her vision as the edges of her eyesight began to fade to black.


	20. Chapter 20

A windpipe could be crushed in an instant, yet De'aro would not allow it to happen to her. He barreled into the yautja that held her pinned, slamming into him like a semi-trailer truck. She felt sharp nails scratch across her neck as his body was flung away from her. Liana scrambled to her feet, holding the fat iguana in her arms like a puppy. She watched De'aro slam his fist down onto the other guys face repeatedly, horrified that no one was trying to pull them apart or stop the fight.

When the other mans face was bloodied, covered in fluorescent green blood, De'aro swooped over to toss her over his shoulder and the crowd parted out of his way. He carried her out of the club, and threw her down on her ass in the street, his intense amber eyes burning with anger. His hands dripping with blood, he tried to pry her arms away from the animal she held. He was too strong for her, and yanked the iguana away from her, letting it dangle from his fist by its long tail.

"Pathetic animal, not even struggle. No fight in it. Useless. Is only food." She watched the iguanas eyes shift around and its paws wiggled like it was trying to swim away from De'aro, but it did not try to bite or scratch him.

"That doesn't give you the right to treat it like that! It isn't humane!"

His words came out a tense, low growl, "I should make you kill it, make you see."

Tears sprang to her eyes, but she fought them back, "I won't do it. You can't make me do it."

He threw the animal down in the street, and it landed on its back. She watched it struggle to right itself, and then it licked its nose. It did not run away, but just sat there, likely to get stepped on and squashed.

He started to yell at her, "Animal is pest, infests houses. You could been killed! No one dare interfere yautja in such way! You ignorant."

She knew he was right, that she hadn't been thinking, and said, "I'm sorry." She scrambled to her feet and scooped up the silly iguana though and said, "But I'm keeping him."

De'aro's hands clenched to fists, and he said, "I no take care of it. Animal cannot be taught, will run away, will shit in house. No."

She was a grown woman, and could make her own decisions, "I saved him. I'm keeping him."

"No." He growled.

She sharply turned away from him and began to walk away, "Yes I am."

He growled, but the conversation came to an end, and she knew he would be following behind her...not that she knew where she was going. She walked off her anger, and stroked the top of the animals head, its bug eyes shifting around as she did. She'd seen rats fed to snakes, and hadn't reacted at the time, as it was the natural order of things. Liana didn't know why she'd jumped to save it. She didn't even know what it was, or how to care for it. Hell, she didn't even know how to get home.

She slowed, stoped, and turned around to look at De'aro, "Do you want to lead the way home?"

He brushed past her, not saying a word, and she tried to keep up with his big strides. They walked all the way back to the house, which seemed like an immensely long way, especially when he wouldn't talk to her. With nothing else to do, she tried to memorize the city layout, and the maze of hallways to his bedroom door as to not be so dependent on him. Once inside his bedroom, she set down the iguana and it scurried away, peeing as it went, and then climbed up into the bed of furs.

Liana blushed, feeling De'aro's eyes on her, and he growled, "Stubborn, like any yautja female."

"I can clean that up."

After a minute of poking around the room for any sort of panel to reveal cleaning things, a big floor panel lifted and a robot cleaned up the mess though. With him just standing there fuming, she didn't know what else to do but flop down in the bed next to the iguana. She was just admiring its grayish green coloring when De'aro stepped next to the bed.

"Can't do things like that, get into trouble. I can't win all fights. Won't loose you."

"This isnt my planet. I'm not used to all of this. Am I just supposed to tip toe around every yautja, hold my tongue, swallow my pride, just incase they explode and pummel me?"

"Yes. If you not higher rank, than are beneath them. If you not stronger, than you do not fight."

"Alright, then how to I rise to a higher rank?"

"You must hunt."

"Teach me then, teach me how to hunt."

"No." He hissed, "Most females don't hunt anyway."

"Then why aren't females picked on and pushed around?"

"They stronger. Ruthless and fiercely protective. Dominant. They have the children, they are respected."

She couldn't imagine all the females being stronger than even the males, or more protective, but it didn't matter to her. She wasn't stronger. She needed an edge against them, "Give me a weapon then."

"No."

He was being completely unreasonable, "Why not?"

"Don't know how to use weapon properly."

"Then teach me."

He hesitated then turned his head away sharply, "I protect you, no need for weapon. You stay out of trouble." Before she could protest, his hand turned her head to the side, looking at her neck and he said tensely, "He left scratches."

She watched him go the dresser, and bring back a small tin container. She assumed it would be more of that healing stuff and she said, "Just leave them; they're nothing." She touched her fingers to the scratches, causing them to sting though.

He opened the container and smeared the gel on her neck, then replaced the jar. As he put on his mask and began to touch his wrist gauntlet though, she just had to ask, "What are you doing?"

"Scan for concussion."

Liana let out a groan, and got out of bed, "I don't have a concussion! I'm fine."

He grabbed her arm, and probed the back of her head with his fingers, "Is it sore?"

"No." She lied. He looked her over for a moment, and then let her arm go.

She began walking towards the other wall where there was a door she was hoping to be a bathroom like there had been on the ship. She needed to wash the smears of green blood off her arm and go pee. She swept the door sideways into the wall as all the rest of the doors seemed to open that way, and peeked into the room. There was a huge tub in the center that looked like it could hold six yautja sized people all sitting around the edge. Then, there were other fixtures around the room that made it look like a bathroom, not that she could immediately pick out the toilet.

Liana turned around to shut the door, finding that De'aro was right there behind her, "No, you are not following me into the bathroom." She shut the door on him tensely.

She waited for him to slide the door back open, as she didn't know how to lock it. However, as the door remained closed, she began to walk around the room, looking for something that was a sink. She touched and tested different fixtures, and finally found something that was similar to a drinking fountain that must have been the sink. She flicked her hands to try and get the water off then, and began to wonder what to dry her hands with. Before she could wipe her arms all over her clothes, an air dryer turned on from underneath the sink bowl and she stuck her hands under to dry them within a second.

Next, she tried to find the toilet, aware that she was taking way too long in the bathroom and sure now that De'aro would try to come in. Most of the fixtures she couldn't even imagine a purpose for, but there was a high seat that just had to be a toilet. It was situated in the wall like a strange sort of cubby and she dared to sit down above the hole that looked to contain a thick sort of oil. Before she could even think about how to wipe the toilet itself sprayed her off with water and dried her off.

Out of the bathroom finally, she found that De'aro was waiting just outside the door for her, "We need to talk. Go over rules. Bad I didn't before. Then you will meet clan." He said.

By just the tone of his voice, she knew this was going to be a long conversation and she sat back down on the bed. The iguana still hadn't moved from its place on the bed, and she grabbed it up into her arms and began to pet it. His eyes were on the animal, and then to her, and she prepared herself for whatever he had to say.

He started with the basics, of how she was not allowed anywhere without him or another trusted yautja. She was not supposed to touch anything that wasn't hers, unless she got permission. She was not to enter rooms that was not his, without permission. Then, he went onto the grueling details of how to act around them.

When she stopped watching him, he must have felt that she wasn't listening, because he grabbed her arm to haul her from the bed and said, "We go practice. Meet clan."


	21. Chapter 21

After the brutal fight off the ship, and seeing the savagery in De'aro when he had fought with the guy in the club, she was skeptical about going to meet any more yautjas. She set the iguana back down on the bed, and he dragged her out into the halls, and then to a narby door. She eyed him strangely as he did not touch his wrist controls, and did not knock.

"What are we doing?"

"Rude to open door ooman. We wait."

"...And how the hell do they even know we are here waiting? Shouldn't we knock?"

"No. Weight sensor in front of door. Lets know visitor there." Just as he said that, a yautja opened the door and De'aro switched to his alien tongue to greet and talk to the yautja. They must have been invited inside, as De'aro tugged her past the doorway with him.

The door shut on its own behind them, and De'aro said, "Greet him properly."

She was property of the entire plan, and as property, she was supposed to bow to her owners. Since the yautja in front of her was clan member, he was her owner. Liana swept her hand infront of her stomach and bowed like she'd seen on movies of kings and knights. De'aro growled, and began to manhandle her into the position he wanted.

He moved her arms straight at her sides, palms facing the yautja, and he grabbed her neck to make her bow down, saying, "Like this. No eye contact."

The other yautja said something, and De'aro let her stand up straight again. They talked more, and then De'aro said to her, "He wishes to touch you. You give consent?"

"Do I have to?"

"No. You female, permission required to touch."

She hesitated, but realized that she needed to make friends here, and not enemies, and said, "Ok."

"Tell him then, but no english. Foreign language never spoken, seen as insult to those who no speak it."

"How do I say yes?"

"Bow again, or say the word, sie-i. Means yes."

She turned more to face the yautja, unsure whether or not to have eye contact or not so she didn't look and she said, "Sei-i."

He stepped closer, and his hand immediately went to her hair. She tried not to look at his eyes, but since he was so close she was inspecting him as well. The more she saw them, the easier it was to tell the difference between males and females. Females had more stripping, while males had more blotching. Females also seemed to have a tinge of brighter colors to their bodies while males were almost always earth tones. She let him poke around at her body, only swatting his hand away when his fingers pushed down her shirt.

Liana quickly shied away then, afraid that the yautja would get angry, or that she had done something wrong, "De'aro, should I say sorry?"

He grunted in amusement and said, "Any touch you no like, you may shove away. Politer to say no though. Come, we introduce you to others of clan." He spoke to the yautja again, and then they showed themselves out.

Down the hall, they ran into a different yautja, another male, and De'aro stopped to speak to him. After a minute, De'aro then said again, "Greet."

Liana bowed the way she had been taught, hands down, palms facing the yautja but her mistake came when she tried to sit up too soon. De'aro's hand went to her neck, firmly holding her back down, and growled, "Not until allowed."

The yautja said something, and she focused on trying to catch the word this time, "Om-raa."

As pressure left her neck, she asked, "De'aro, what does Om-raa mean?"

"It is _hello_, and the greeting means you're presence has been acknowledged, so you may stand. Never before it's said."

The yautja was watching her, and she avoided eye contact, but when he stepped closer and said, "Beautiful." She couldn't help but meet his eyes.

Of course, De'aro growled, and smacked her arm, "No eye contact. No smile."

She whirled to face De'aro, "I'm not supposed to smile?"

"No. Not all will recognize ooman gesture. Teeth shown is anger, is threat."

"But he called me beautiful! How do I say thank you?"

The other yautja butted in, his voice so much less rough than De'aro's, "I do speak english quite well, but there is no need to thank me."

Liana sort of blushed, unsure of what to say then. She thought about asking his name, but De'aro and him began to speak to each other, and then De'aro ushered her along. He brought her room to room, explaining the symbols on the doors, and making her greet each of them. No one else seemed to speak English. Some of them wanted to touch her, usually going to her hair first. Some of them did not seem to like her or want to interact with her.

She was starting to get the hang of it when she made another mistake. De'aro stopped her in front of a yautja in the hall again, and after they stopped talking she bowed, without being told. De'aro growled at her and yanked her upright.

"Now what did I do wrong?" She winned, feeling like she was a dog being potty trained or something. All of this was no fun.

"Not clan, guest. No bow."

"Oh, well how am I supposed to tell the difference?"

He growled again, like she was being incompetent, "Koros bands in hair, front, color and symbol obvious."

"The beads?" She looked at the yautjas hair, at all the beads and even a section of vertebra in his hair, "What does the clan symbol look like?" The yautja was at least two feet over her head, and she could hardly even make out the symbols.

De'aro must have seen her difficulty, as he lifted her up into his arms, one arm holding her under her ass and his other hand touched a bead in his hair. She examined the brass-colored bead, and the symbol on the front of it. On the back though, it had a different symbol. She looked to compare it to the other yautjas bead, which had a completly different symbol.

She tried to memorize De'aro's, and then asked, "What does the symbol on the other side mean?"

"Rank within clan."

"What is your rank?" De'aro brushed off her question, addressing the other yautja, probably thanking him for his time. She watched him walk down the hall and disappear, and then she asked again, "What is your rank?"

"Not important."

It was obvious he was not proud of his rank, but by the way he had handled that yautja in the club, she didn't think he would be be of the lowest status. "Well, what do the other beads mean?"

"Important title. Parents names. Skill, kills made. Mates, kids. Age…" It seemed like he was going to go on, but she just had to interrupt him.

"How old are you?" She chirped.

"Not important."

"De'aro!" She scolded, trying to squirm out of his grip, "Why aren't my questions important?"

He gently set her down, "Questions important. Answers not."

"That doesn't make any sense, why won't you just tell me your age? It doesnt matter what it is, I'm just curious."

"...Males usually with older females. That how it goes...Is odd that you are older."

"I'm older, huh? I'm about to kick your ass for bossing me around." She said playfully.

He turned his head away, apparently not feeling playful, "Not older in actual time, but older in lifespan."

"I'm confused." she admitted.

All of the lights in the house dimmed, and Liana froze, thinking of the club at first. De'aro began to walk away, but glanced behind him to make sure she was following. They came back to his room, and walked inside. The room was dimly lit as well, and as De'aro began to undress, setting his jewelry on the dresser she began to think that the entire house was on a timer. It was probably dark outside, but without windows, you'd never be able to tell, and so the house lights dimmed. He went to the bed, rolled up the iguana in a fur, and carelessly tossed the fur and the animal to the ground.

She was glaring at him for it, but he walked right up to her and began to undress her as well. In the bedroom, with the door closed, she allowed him to do it. He carried her into the bed, and layed her down on the furs. She tried to get comfy, but without a blanket or even a pillow, she was lost. De'aro laid on his back beside her, his eyes closing. She tried to do the same, but after only a few seconds she decided that was not going to work.

She shifted her position to her side, and slid some of the furs out from under her to try and curl herself under them.

"Trying make nest?" He teased.

Her eyes flickered to him, a smile on her lips, and she got an idea. Liana scootched close to him, grabbing his arm and positioning it around her back so that his bicep was a pillow, and she wrapped her leg around one of his. Her hand traced down his chest, and she tried to sleep. She could feel his eyes on her though, and looked up at him.

"What?" She asked.

"Would be around forty five in Earth years...but considered younger than you in our years, considering life span."

She was still sort of confused, but he explained the whole thing. It was sort of like dog or cat years, where a dog may be fifteen years old, young, but considered an old dog. Apparently the yautja lived well into three hundred year old or more, while a hundred was more the limit for humans. He was technically older than her in time, but in his life he was just hitting his twenties. He wasn't that much younger than her then really, but he acted like yautja males usually find mates with older females, not younger. Older was more desirable, as he told her that they do not age like humans. She fell asleep next to him, wondering what this would mean for her as she grew old and he entered his prime.


	22. Chapter 22

A smile spread across her lips before she was even fully awake as her senses picked up his masculine smell. Even though it seemed so primitive, the silky soft feel of the animal furs around her naked body was blissful, especially when accompanied with both of his strong arms around her. She let out a tiny yawn as she stretched, her body feeling so well-rested. Her eyes flickered open to the light in the room, and she knew it was daytime.

He was already awake, and when she looked up at him she was greeted with those gorgeous red-orange amber eyes. His tusk-tipped mandibles and razor sharp teeth looked like something out of a horror movie, especially so close to her face, but she shifted up to kiss them. De'aro let out a delicious grumble and held her tighter. She wanted to kiss him again, to taste him on her tongue, but she knew that if she started that behavior so early, she'd likely be at it all day.

Liana shifted away from him, on instinct reaching towards the dresser. She felt dread enter her system, and she recoiled her hand. The iguana was on top of the dresser, bug eyes staring down at her, but that was not what had disturbed her. She took her birth control pills every morning as soon as she woke up. Among so many of the necessities she hadn't been allowed to pack, birth control was among them. Just the very thought of having children repulsed her. She let out a disdainful sigh, and sat back in his arms, trying to think of a good way to bring up the subject.

"Hungry?" He asked.

There was no great way to go about it, "I need birth control." she blurted.

"For breakfast?"

She let out a chuckle, "No, I mean…" He brushed his mandibles across her lips lightly to stop her mid-sentence.

"I know what you mean. Wrist gauntlet notified me hormone change. Yautja female can have thirteen pups around same time, many more throughout life. You want none." He shifted away from her and got out of bed, "Not my mate yet. New life for you. Will get you birth control for now."

She could tell from his tone it was going to be a long conversation later, but she was thankful not to have to listen to it now. As he dressed, Liana swept herself out of bed, a fur pelt wrapped around her, and began to look for clothes. She eyed him, pulling out drawers from the wall and began to look for more panels. She kept opening and closing things around the room, so De'aro finally had to step in and click the correct panel for her. A drawer rolled out, containing all her clothes, even the robe, and it was all folded and looked clean. His eyes lit up when she put on the thong he had picked out for her, only to let out a grunt then as she pulled shorts up over them.

On her way out the door, she noticed De'aro had rolled up and was carrying a pelt, and she asked, "What's that for?"

"For sitting." He said simply, and he began to lead the way to breakfast.

They came into a huge dining room, the ceiling edged in skulls and the walls adorned with weapons, and a huge table stretched across the room. She was surprised at first that there weren't more people, but then remembered how infrequently his kind ate. With all of them eating on different days and different times, it would probably never be very busy. De'aro went to the middle of the table, and she thought he was pulling out a chair for her, but instead he removed the chair and layed out the pelt on the ground.

Liana stared down at it, and De'aro sat in the seat beside the pelt. "Sit." He ordered, like she was dog.

At that moment, she felt like grabbing the chair he had moved and bashing him over the head with it, but she could control her temper better than that, "I will not sit on the ground to eat, nor will I bend over and eat from a bowl if that is what you intend."

"Pets don't sit at table. Lucky I even bring you here."

"Lucky? Look, De'aro, you may call me what you want, may say I am property, but I am NOT your pet."

"You will sit!" He growled, trying to keep his voice low as to not disturb the few at the table.

"No."

She should have seen it coming, considering that he always tried to force her will with his strength, but his hands caught her off guard. De'aro had her on the ground in an instant, and quickly pinned her there with his arms. He began to sit back on the chair, his body tilted to the side, and he allowed his feet alone to keep her firmly on the ground on her back. Soon, some sort of waiter came from a side door and addressed De'aro, then returned with a huge platter of food for him, and a bowl for her.

He set the bowl on her chest, "Eat."

She slid the bowl under the table, but didn't spill it, "No."

That seemed to prompt him to force feed her. He grabbed a piece of meat, held her jaws open with one hand, and stuffed the food down her throat with the other. She tried to fight him, scratching at his leg, wiggling and thrashing under him. His feet were crushing into her stomach the more she moved, the weight painful, and made it hard to breathe. When he stuffed more meat down her throat a second time, pieces of it began to go down the wrong pipe.

Liana began to cough, and only that made him let her up. She scrambled up and held her throat, coughing until the food dislodged itself. She glared at De'aro, "What the hell is wrong with you?" When he didn't answer, she swept herself away and began to walk from the room, "You idiot, you could have killed me!"

That last comment caught the attention of a male yautja sitting at the table, and he slammed his fist down on the wood before standing up to face her. She briefly panicked, backing up, but tried to correct the situation. Liana bowed to him, not even having looked for the symbol in his hair, and waited for him to say hello. What she heard instead, was the sharp metallic slide of a blade being drawn. Her heart stopped and she glanced up to see two serrated blades glinting in the light before he plunged them down on her. Instantly, she knew that De'aro was too far away to save her.

However, she got to see a glimpse of just how badass the female yautjas were. One moment she was facing death, then the next moment strong arms were around her waist, pulling her up into the air and against a muscular body. This yautja grabbed ahold of the mans arm, stopping his blades from plunging into her body, and quickly twisted his arm until she heard the bone cracking inside. With one arm holding Liana up on her hip, her other arm took on the guy.

Unlike the other fights she had seen where everyone just stood and stared, she could tell that all the yautja around the table were steadily backing away. The female yautja landed blows, blocked any of his attempts, and all while still holding Liana. Blood gushed up from his mouth, and yet he would not stop. A strong kick from her protector sent him to the ground though, and then her foot slammed down on his ribcage, no doubt breaking several ribs. A deep and ominous growl boiled up from the female's chest, and then she backed away from the mans body.

Her voice was so soft, sweet, and feminine, yet her words sent chills all up Liana's spine as she said, "Try and hurt this ooman again, and I will rip out your spine and wear it around my neck."

All except De'aro and the guy still bleeding on the floor, everyone else had left the room completely. Liana felt incredibly awkward as a grown woman being carried around by a huge amazonian-like alien female, and was glad when the yautja set her down in front of De'aro. However, she was not quite done defending Liana. She encroached closer to De'aro, her mandibles splayed out, and she began to yell at him. It was the first time she had seen De'aro cower, his head down and eyes lowered, not even attempting to guard himself in case she attacked him next. He was purring the entire time though, the sound so strong it made her tired, but the female did not seem affected.

After she quieted, De'aro stopped the lulling purr, and looked up at Liana, "I was just scolded for not protecting you better. She is right. I am sorry Liana."

She wasn't sure what to say, but the woman turned on her then next, asking, "Is he forgiven?"

"Yes." Liana squeaked.

"Good. Now sit on your knees on the pelt, keeping your back straight." She ordered.

With the tone in the womans voice, she wasn't about to argue, and she did as she said. Liana even picked up the bowl she'd slid under the table, and began to eat. She didn't even look to see what was in the bowl, she just began to chew and swallow it down. She heard someone sit down in the chair beside her, and out of the corner of her eye she could tell it was De'aro. The woman sat in the chair on her other side, and she began to feel nervous.

The yautja who had tried to kill her left without a word. Breakfast went on without any more issues, and once they had their fill of food and drink, the female yautja and De'aro had begun to talk. When De'aro stood, as silly as it sounded, she looked to the female for permission to stand.

"You may get up." She consented.

Liana stood as she did then, but De'aro brushed his hand through Liana's hair and said, "You will go with her now. Pick you up later. Have work."

Liana watched De'aro leave, too afraid to complain, and yet frozen in place and unwilling to turn around to face the female. She'd saved Liana's life, but something about her no-bull-shit attitude had Liana warry. Who the hell could beat down an armed man while you had someone held in your arm? Only females apparently, who were more than used to protecting children.

She sounded friendly as ever though, as she said, "My name is Acc'ora. His work does not really allow company, but I can show you what I do."

"Ok."

Liana turned around and followed the female out of the room and through the halls. She couldn't help but stare at her. The female had to be just under nine foot tall, curvy but leanly muscular. The outside of her legs was slightly stripped with a hint of red, but her body was still blotched with the reptilian spots. Liana was afraid that the day would start again with rules and procedures, and with this yautja, she knew she would just have to comply. Yet, the woman led her into a nursery.

Like the yautjas houses and ships, the room was decorated and the walls were ornate. It was not just artwork just for the sake of art, but more like viking art where everything was beautiful but had to be functional. Carved statues of alien creatures held up the cribs where she could see small yautja infants sleeping inside. The walls were carved with two-dimensional creatures, blocky though, reminding her of ancient egyptian hieroglyphs. It wasn't the sort of thing she would think to put on nursery walls, but it was interesting.

Out off all the places the female could have taken her though, of course it had to be to a nursery, and Liana hated light was beginning to shed on the gentler side of yautjas however, as she watched the female carefully pick up a child and hold it to her chest.

"They don't need to be fed often, and their mothers will return to feed them. It is better that way, for them to bond. However, while they are away, it is best that they are held and cared for. You may pick one up, but be gentle."

Liana tried not to make a disgusted face, and walked up to one of the cribs. She peered down at the baby, which was so chubby and unlike any yautja. She had almost assumed they jumped out of the womb with tusks and muscle. However, this little guys teeth had not grown in yet, and the tips of his four mandibles were just beginning to get a tusk point. It didn't even have any of those alien dreads yet. His eyes were closed, and he did look sort of cute almost. She timidly reached down her hand to brush it on his cheek, when his face turned and nuzzled his forehead against her palm.

The female had walked closer and seen it, and she said, "He likes your warmth."

"But I hadn't even touched him yet…"

"All of our kind have heat-sensing areas on our skin. He can detect your heat. We have more senses than your primitive five. Go ahead, pick him up."

She didn't know how to hold babies, and it made her nervous, but she tried to scoop one arm under his back while holding his head and slowly brought him up to rest against her chest. His eyes opened a moment later, and she began to sway with him, praying that he wouldn't start screaming. The little yautja stayed calm though, and she admired its vibrant green eyes.

She glanced over at the female that was watching her, and she said, "Man is he heavy. How much does he weigh, twenty pounds?"

"Close, and he is just a newborn. Only a day old."

"They come out this big?"

"Yes." The baby she held was seeming more awake with each passing minute, and had began to pull on the shiny beads in her hair. "Once De'aro raises his status enough, he will claim you as his mate and you will truly be apart of the clan when you birth a child of his."

She set down the yautja back in its crib carefully, looking down at its strange appearance, "Is it really possible? Could I carry that to term?"

"Hybrids have been created in the past. I am not up to date on the latest data, but reproductive tests have been done on oomans that seems to indicate different levels of receptiveness to many different aliens besides yautjas."

"Like O blood type, universal for mating with aliens?" She questioned.

"Yes. Not many aliens show the same diversity of mates without the offspring being sterile...But still, I would think there would be complications. Compared to oomans, we have a lengthened ontogeny, and I do not know how that will match up in your body."

Ontogeny, meaning length of gestation and infancy. They would be pregnant longer than nine months then, and Liana was afraid to ask just how long. And longer time spent as an infant, meant more crying, pooping, and puking. Not that these babies seemed to be doing any of that. Acc'ora set down the one yautja to pick up and hold another, simply wiping his mandibles free of a little drool. They weren't even in diapers she realized, and wondered if they went to the bathroom so infrequently that the diapers weren't necessary. Still, Liana was not convinced on having any kids.

But then Acc'ora said, "I will pray to Paya that your body can carry a child."

She had wandered to another crib and had began to play with a little yautjas feet, but quickly crossed her arms then. She was about to admit she didn't want kids, but then had to ask, "What does _paya _mean?"

"There are two gods that we believe in, and Paya is one of them. Has De'aro not mentioned them before? I guess it is only your second day here…" She went and picked up a different child, and then continued, "We all know it is myth, but the ancients used to say that there was a pair of immense dragon-like beings who swam through the stars. One, a female, was named Paya. The other, a male, was named Cetanu. They both had gifts, one could give life and the other could take it away. They fell in love, but were distraught to find they were incapable of having children."

The yautja in her arms began to bounce and wiggly playfully and she continued the story, "Cetanu could only give death, but he threw together bits of rock in space, and kicked the planets into alignment to create a nursery. Paya gave life to the planet, and the creatures grew and evolved to be her children, to be our kind. To this day, we still thank both Paya and Cetanu, though we have no idea what shape they hold, or for certain how life and death came to be, or how it works. To both, we pray. But to Cetanu, we give demonstrations of death through hunts. To Paya, we give demonstrations of life through mercy."

"You pray to a god of death?" Liana asked, as though the female had just said that she worshipped the devil.

"There is no life without death. On hunts, you pray to Cetanu so that you may make a worthy kill. You can also offer him gifts as to appease him so that he does not take away a loved one to early."

She was thinking blood and guts, but she asked anyway, "What sort of gifts would you offer?"

"Something he cannot create: life."

Without killing something, "How do you do that?"

"There are many ways. You could dedicate some things life to him, a newborn with the name Cetanu. Plant a seed to grow for him. Spare somethings life in his name. Have sex, with him in your thoughts, as sex creates life."

It was the opposite of what she expected, so she was just too curious not to ask, "Then, to Paya, do you offer death?"

"Yes."

A good portion of the day was spent with Acc'ora, picking up and playing with the little yautja babies. Though she didn't come to love them, she had to admit that they did not terrorize her like some infants on Earth. She would not let that get to her however, as she had a suspicion that once they got hungry they would become rambunctious and loud just like any baby. And then once they were old enough to walk, what then? They would zip around the house and wander everywhere. She already liked her fat alien iguana with the odd bug eyes much better.


	23. Chapter 23

As soon as De'aro entered the room, she knew the woman would be watching her. Liana tried to impress them both, to show them both that she could fit into this new society. She set down the chubby yautja she was holding, and he bounced his legs in the crib and flailed his arms in disagreement to being set down but she walked towards De'aro. She bowed as she had been showed, arms down and palms facing him, and waited.

"Rise."

She straightened up, and resisted the temptation of looking into his eyes. Her gaze fell to the floor at his feet instead. She would have thought that he would have liked her display, but his body still seemed tense in front of her, like he was waiting for something. She wracked her brain, thinking she was forgetting something. An apology, might have been what he was waiting for. He had apologized to her, for not protecting her better. She should have apologized as well.

"De'aro, I am sorry for my earlier outburst."

His hand grabbed her chin and tilted her head up to meet his eyes, his chest rumbling with an appreciative rumble.

"I refuse to sit on the floor to eat however."

His anger lit up like a roaring fire, his body going tense, his eyes burning with her disobedience. His hand jerked away from her face, and he uttered a bone-chilling growl.

"I will stand at the table, or eat in the room, but I will not sit at your feet like a dog."

"If you refuse to sit, then you starve." he rumbled.

Acc'ora came to stand to the side of them, and said, "De'aro, you should be proud to have a female ooman that would think to stand up to you. Liana, you need to pick your battles more wisely."

They both felt scolded, and De'aro walked her back to the bedroom, where he began to undo the armor on his shoulders. She sat on the bed, watching him, not having noticed before what he'd been wearing. It made her curious about what sort of work he had gone to do, but she figured if she asked that he would not answer her. It seemed though that right after work he had come to get her, without changing first, and already she had ruined his mood.

Well, if he was already angry, then it was a perfect time to discuss some things that no doubt would get him heated, "How am I supposed to be with you when you act like you want me beneath you?"

"All aliens are beneath yautja."

"Right." she huffed. "So do yautjas have husbands and wives or is the whole mate thing more like dictator and slave?"

He let out a growl and banged his armor down on the dresser, "Mates equal."

"Will you ever allow me to be equal to you?"

"You are not equal, so no. There is no allowing of it, equality is earned."

"So even if I was your mate, I would be seen as below you?" Pressure was building behind her eyes.

"Yes. Have to be. But not bad thing."

"How is that not bad?"

"Protect you. Love you. But not equal. What does it matter?"

"De'aro, that is what a dog is considered! A loved companion, yet not equal."

"So? Do dogs not like their position?"

"I will not live like that. I'm sorry De'aro. I just can't." He finally looked over to her then, and her eyes began to water, "I love you, but I can't live like this."

"Just stressed. You get used to..."

"No, I will not get used to it. I ate breakfast on the floor already, and you know what? It didn't kill me. I know the act of eating on the floor is no big deal, but I couldn't see your eyes, couldn't talk to you, couldn't connect. That is not right."

"Only at meals..."

"Its besides just that, its everything. I can't be myself around you. This is not working."

"Will work..."

"No, De'aro, it won't. I'd rather be a pet to every yautja in the planet, then have fake hopes of being happy as your mate."

He was silent. She wiped her eyes and stared at him, waiting for his anger to show through. She waited for him to do something, or even say something back. The longer she waited, the harder she began to cry. She had to get out of the room, get away from him even though she knew he would follow her. She had no idea where she was or where she was headed, and didn't care. The endless maze of hallways distracted her thoughts.

Walks through the woods had always calmed her, but these solid walls around her only seemed to be closing in around her though. She wanted fresh air, needed to see the sun. When she turned around to ask De'aro to show her the door, he was not behind her. She realized she was alone, and that he must not have even followed her out the room.

Liana slumped against the wall, realizing what she had said to him. If he hadn't followed her, her words must have sank in. She practically said that she didn't want to be his mate, didn't want to be with him. She buried her face with her hands and let herself slide down the wall to sit on the ground.

She was screwing everything up. That's always how it had been with her though. Her parents would not visit because of where she lived, with bears, and did not invite her to holiday celebrations because of her idiotic profession which they did not approve of. If she had given in and picked a different profession she would not have shot an alien mistaking it for a bear. One of her past boyfriends had wanted kids so bad, and she refused to consider it, then he called off the wedding engagement. She probably should have seen that coming though, as after years passed and he didn't propose she had finally pushed him into getting married. But the time, it had broken her heart. If she had just given up, and listened to him she would have had a normal family.

Like with dealing with the grizzly bears, she could follow procedures and rules, bow to these creatures. But to be seen as lower than him though...She didn't know what to do about it. She was weaker. At every turn, she seemed to have that fact shoved down her throat. And now, she lifted her head to see a yautja staring at her from down the hall. Liana wiped her eyes and blinked, staring up at the yautja with multi-colored metal beads in his hair and his skin which was tinged grey all over. It was not De'aro.

She swallowed, her throat tight, and rose to her feet. The yautja slowly crept closer, seeming tense. He was smaller than most that she had seen, as he was a mere six foot tall. His yellow eyes looked her all over, up and down, and over again as he continued to get closer. Her eyes sought out the front bead in his hair, finding that the symbol matched the clans. She bowed, hating the fact that it was a vulnerable position in front of such aliens, but she did it all the same.

Thankfully, she noticed his muscles relax some when she bowed. She waited for him to tell her to rise or say hello, but he did not. Instead, he stopped right in front of her and asked, "Ooman?"

She slowly straightened, and looked up just enough to notice that his head was cocked to the side and staring down at her. She wracked her brain for the word, then said, "Se-i."

He let out a caveman-like grunt, poked her arm, and declared, "Ooman!"

"Se-i…" Her heart was beginning to race as she grew increasingly nervous.

He began to ramble on in that alien language, and she watched him, her mouth going open then closed again. She had no idea what he was saying, and she doubted that he spoke english. He seemed harmless enough, but as she began to slink away to the side his fist connected with the wall to keep her in place, and her thoughts of him were corrected. He was larger than her, stronger, and it seemed that any deviation from what a yautja wanted caused them to become angry. She had no choice but to stand there.

She felt pathetic, her thoughts begging for De'aro to come and save her. Why would he though after what she had said to him? The yautja cocked his head again, and then cocked it to the other side, before he poked at her belly button that was exposed. Once his hand began to pluck at the strands of her hair, ripping some out and then watching them float to the ground, she realized that he had probably never seen an human before, or at least never in person. Liana bit her lip nervously, unsure of how to handle this.

She kept waiting for someone, anyone, to come find them in the hallway. No one came, and the yautja continued to poke and probe at her. He seemed confused, really. He kept tilting his head and touching her ears, then her hair, then her nose, then hovering his hands around her breasts but would not touch them. One moment he seemed calm, and the next he was vicious though. Liana dared to try and say something, but as soon as he heard her voice his hand cupped her mouth and slammed the back of her head against the wall.

On instinct, her hands went to shove him off, but he danced away from her hands like they could burn him. With his hands off her, she felt the back of her head, making a face at him. He inched closer, snatching her wrists tightly, and then cautiously poked her palms. It was like he was looking at her for dangers, as though she had a chance against him. He seemed to realize that she was no danger, and decided to take her back to his room.

She let out a squeak as he bent to pick her up, slinging her body over his shoulder and only holding one of her legs to keep her up. She dangled down his back, trying not to panic as she watched the hallways shift as he turned every corner. He did not seem to want her skull, so he wasn't going to kill her. As long as she wasn't going to be murdered then, she thought everything would be fine. Liana would just have to wait until De'aro found her. But how would he save her if he couldn't enter someone else's bedroom?

He stopped and she heard the slide of the door before he carried her inside and plopped her down on the hard floor in front of him. She glanced around, seeing basically the same layout as other rooms she had seen. The room wasn't as tidy though, bones and skulls lying about, and furs from the bed had slid onto the floor. Something about that just made her mind think that he had to be young, very young at that.

As he crouched down and began trying to remove her clothes, she knew she was in for some trouble. The more she squirmed, the more aggressive he became. She didn't know what else to do but to stop struggling. He took off her clothes, not ripping them off but undoing the strings. He bent his face closer to her skin then, his mandibles twitching, seeming to smell her. His chest rumbled with deep vibrations. She quickly realized that he was done inspecting her, and had instead found that he liked her.

As he began to crawl over her, she steadily began to back up. "No!" She said sternly.

He didn't like that. He parted her legs with a growl, and situated his hips between them. Liana began to cry again, and let her head rest down on the floor, giving up. She figured that she'd just be beaten and then raped if she tried to resist, so why fight? She could feel his skin beginning to heat, and that musk began to loom over her. She sobbed, realizing that De'aro would be able to smell him on her and know that she had been raped. That fact seemed more shameful than the actual act of it.


	24. Chapter 24

He seemed kind of clumsy, as though he had never had sex before even though he seemed so eager for it. She found herself begging for him just to get it overwith, yet he seemed to lean his chest onto her and then off again. He went from his palms holding himself up to his elbows, and continued resituating until he backed off of her completely. She wasn't stupid enough to think he had changed his mind, and she was right-he hadn't. He rolled her onto her stomach and then lifted her hips up so that she was on her hands and knees. This seemed like a more comfortable position for him, and easily bracketed himself over her small body.

She braced herself for what would come next, just trying to force herself to imagine it was De'aro. But instead, a sharp pain like a needle made her jerk away as she sucked in a surprised breath. Her head hit the top of the young yautja's jaw and he let out an annoyed grunt. She cried out again as she felt the tip of him brush against her, accompanied with sharp points of pain. She was confused and afraid, her heart pumping wildly and her thoughts racing.

She quickly rolled onto her back, trying to get a look at him. Before his hands grabbed her up to put her back into position, she saw that the pores on the side that she had observed on De'aro, were tiny bony projections, spikes, on this yautja instead. He had two rows of spikes lining his cock. Panic and adrenaline were coursing through her, causing that fighting spirit of hers to return. When she tried to turn to her back again, he held her in place. As hard as she possibly could, she jerked her head back, hitting up against his jaw and then she began to thrash.

He was quick to restrain her, one arm wrapping around her neck as the other held him up. Unable to breathe, she had to act fast, and she shoved at the one arm that was propping himself up. As he shifted, she squirmed and kicked her legs to try and get above him. There was no holding back with these aliens, and she pounded her fist into his face as hard as she could, as many times as she could.

She bolted for the door too soon, as he jumped up and his arm wrapped around her waist, dragging her back to the floor. Liana cried out as his arm crushed in around her, feeling like he was breaking ribs. He tried to spread her legs more, but she kept her hips down. As he tried to reposition her, she quickly twisted around and jammed her elbow into his face. As he let her go, she tried to get up, but crushing pain brought her back to the floor. As he came at her again, she rolled to her back and kicked at him.

His claws raked down her bare legs as he grabbed them and drug her closer. She tried to lift up to punch him, but her entire middle section was riddled with pain, feeling like he'd completely broken all of her ribs. He leaned his chest down on her then, pinning her down, pain jolting through her and causing her to cry out in pain. She tried to crunch in her legs and shove him off, but her bare feet simply slid across his skin.

She felt his hard member pressing between her legs, little pinpricks like needles digging into her at every little movement. One of his hands left her wrist to try and position his cock for better entrance, and she jerked her hand up. She didn't hesitate, her fist coiling around a thick dread of his hair, and she yanked as hard as she could. Blood gushed from his head, and he jumped off of her with a roar.

She scooped up her clothes, and slowly rose to her feet, wanting only to double over with how much pain riddled her chest. Liana swatted open the door, and shuffled into the hallway. She began to cry again, not even knowing which way De'aro's room was. She began to wander, stopping to take deep breaths, and check around her to make sure that the young yautja hadn't followed. When a yautja appeared in front of her in the hall, she just began to scream.

Her screams brought a few other yautja into the hall, and then finally De'aro arrived. He seemed about to murder everyone in the hall, growling and snarling at everyone that was just standing there watching her. She let out a scream and shoved him away when he tried to pick her up, being bent like that causing even her spine to hurt from broken ribs. Even breathing hurt, and she let out a pathetic sob.

The walk to the medical room seemed endless, and she kept stopping, trying to catch her breath, and then feeling like she was going to vomit any minute. Once in the room, he had her climb up and lay in that strange scanner thing. She waited, staring at the ceiling for the pain to stop as he punched at the control buttons. As the machine came to life, the pain gradually ceased, and she could take a deep breath.

De'aro picked her up and carried her to the bedroom then, and set her down in the bathroom. He tried to get her clothes from her but she jerked and jumped away. Her eyes wouldn't meet his. He tried to get the thing out of her other hand, but her heart started to race and she began to shake slightly. He guided her down to the floor with him to get her to sit until she was calm.

Once she realized that the thing held tightly in her palm was the waxy dread she had ripped out, she threw it across the bathroom floor and turned her face into De'aro's neck. His arms wrapped around her back, and when she began to cry, he purred, stopping it. When she had finally calmed, she slowly leaned away from him and wiped at her face. Fluorescent green came off on her palm. His blood had splattered all over her.

She tried to wipe it off, but there was too much of it and her lower lip began to quiver. As soon as De'aro saw this, he got up and moved to turn on the bathtub, warm water filling up from the bottom. He scooped her up and got into the water with her, not even bothering to take off his cloth cover. She still would not look at him. He began to sweep his hands over her body to get the blood off her neck and shoulder. Then, his thumb went to her face, cleaning off the blood, careful not to get water in her eyes.

His hand tried to grab her jaw to lift her face up to him, but she jerked her head away. He froze there for a moment, and then lowered his hand. She huddled herself against the side of the inground tub. De'aro stood there watching her, but after a while he began to back away.

"Was not there protect you again." he said sullenly.

She let out a sigh and wrapped her arms around her chest.

"If want, Acc'ora be your guardian. Stay in her room."

She didn't answer, only stared down at the dark water around her, lost in so many thoughts.

"Not want be my mate?"

She shut her eyes, and bowed her head, her throat too tight now to even try to say anything to him. After a minute, she felt the water shifting as he climbed out of the tub. She listened to the slide of the door as it opened and closed, and then she climbed from the tub as well. There were no towels, and as she stared at the other fixtures she knew one of them had to be a dryer, but she did not know which one or how it would work. So she stood there until she was almost dry and then headed to the bedroom for fresh clothes.

Her eyes caught sight of that alien dread on the bathroom floor, the end of it still bright green with blood. Back on Earth, she had proved herself in college, and proved herself at work. No one in the town wanted a young girl in the woods tagging bears by herself in woods infested with hunters. Yet, she had been stubborn and proved that she didn't need any help and they left her alone. Now, here on this planet she hadn't thought that she would be able to take on that yautja, and yet she had gotten away.

She picked up the fleshy strand of hair, knowing she would have to prove herself on this planet now too. She could be stronger than she thought, stronger than they thought. However, with this task, she wasn't so sure that she could accomplish it. She would never be better than them, but if she could just get an edge, wield a weapon...She just knew it would win her the respect she deserved. First though, she needed to go fix things with De'aro.

When she entered the bedroom, he was by the dresser already looking busy. He had his armor out and was polishing the pieces. She wasn't sure what she was going to say to him or if he was just going to get mad again, but she strode right up to him and looked him in the eyes. He paused his polishing, looking down at her, but didn't set the armor down. She opened her mouth, but was interrupted.

"Fed rat." he said.

"What?"

With his elbow, he gestured over to the bed where the iguana was sitting, "That thing."

"It's not a rat."

"Is like rat, but fed it."

"Its name is Ed."

"You name it?" He tilted his head slightly.

"Yea, I named it." She shifted her weight nervously, then said, "De'aro…"

He interrupted her again, "It started chew on things. Ed. Had to feed it."

She bit her lip, and said, "Thank you, but I have to talk to you about…"

"That yautja was young. Teenager." He looked down at his wrist control then back at her.

Liana opened her mouth to say something, but he began to talk again. She didn't think he was trying to be rude so much as trying to postpone whatever she had to say to him, afraid that she will confirm that she didn't want him. He had asked in the tub, but it seemed he did not want to hear it.

He went on about the yautja who had tried to rape her, "Unblooded, little self control. High sex drives, cannot rape stronger dominant females of our race. Probably never had sex before, as there more males than females."

She nodded solemnly, and said, "He had spikes on his…"

"Yes, never been will female then. Spikes disappear after that."

Her curiosity was winning over some, "Can they masterbate?"

"Not easily."

Liana thought about this. He was young, just a teenager, faced with an alien that apparently smelled good. He had a high sex drive, but couldn't masterbate. Females of his race were scarce, and couldn't be dragged to bed with him, couldn't be overpowered. Teenage yautjas were apparently very deviant sex monsters. Though he had tried to rape her, and his high sex drive was a poor excuse for trying to do that, she felt sort of bad for him.

As soon as she tried to talk again, his mandibles moved to say something else but she raised her voice so he wouldn't interrupt, "I should apologize."

"He try hurt you, and you apologize? Very honorable."

"De'aro…" She wasn't even sure what to say to him, how to apologize for what she'd said to him earlier.

He wouldn't let her get any more words out though, quickly putting his armor down as he said, "Dress. Take you to apologize." When she just stood there, staring up into his eyes he shoved her away, "Dress."

She skirted around him to get to the dresser, trying to pick out the right container. She found the one with familiar markings, and popped the lid to make sure it was correct. It was the opaque healing gel, and she walked to the bathroom with it. De'aro followed.

She plopped down on the floor, and turned to him, "Out. Don't you know not to follow people into the bathroom?"

"Hurt?"

"I'm fine. Just wait in the bedroom...Pick me out something to wear."

He ignored what she'd told him, and crouched down to her. His hands gently spread her legs, and his chest vibrated with a growl. She felt his hands begin to tighten into fists and the chords of his neck were drawn tight.

"Its nothing but scratches." She backed away from him, and opened the lid to the container.

"He got that close to…"

"Yes, he got that close to raping me. It was my fault for running off, I know."

"Not your fault." He stood up and began to head for the door, "My fault. You will live with Acc'ora. I not your caretaker no more, no good at it."

She had to jump up and go running after him, "No, that's not what I want."

"Don't matter what you want. Won't have you hurt again. Like you said, won't work."

"De'aro!" He wouldn't turn around to look at her, and began to touch that wrist gauntlet with all the alien lettering. She ran in front of him, and blocked the keypad. "De'aro, sit down for a minute so we can talk!"

She shoved at his stomach until he backed up and sat on the bed. "I am not weak. I am not below you. If this is going to work, you are going to have to embrace that." She was being pushy, and knew he would start to get angry, but she didn't care, "My opinion counts, and I have a say in my life and what we do. Got it?" She shoved at his chest and he allowed his back to be pressed into the bed as he hovered above him.

He let out soft trilling purr.

"Are you listening to me?"

His arms wrapped around her back and his head lifted to kiss her. Her tension melted as his mandibles spread over her cheeks, caressing her like hands. His tongue flicked across her lips and then dove into her mouth. His tongue tasted like spices, and his hot breath on her drove her mad. His skin was burning hot and his musk was growing stronger. It was the opposite reaction she had been expecting from him, yet it started to make sense.

It wasn't just because she'd clued in that she still wanted him. The yautja would dominate every being they could and rule supreme as hunters. However, as in the case with their own females, they enjoyed being dominated. De'aro liked her being strong, liked her saying how things were going to go. He liked her pushing his back into the bed with her ontop of him.


	25. Chapter 25

The hardest part was going to be knowing her boundaries. She would still have to show respect to the clan, bow to them, and know her place. However, she would be just like every other yautja female, be dominant, be strong. She would find her place in the community, perhaps working at the nursery like Acc'ora. She would learn his language and customs. However, until she knew how to fight and confidently wield a weapon, she would also have to rely on De'aro's protection and guidance. It was not going to be easy.

Though he protested, Liana broke the kiss and leaned off of him, "Take me to apologize."

She headed for the door, but De'aro headed to the bathroom. He came back with the enzyme container in one hand and set it down on the bed. He turned to her then, and she allowed him to pick her up and lay her down in the furs without complaint. His hands parted her legs with a firm grip on her knees, and then he began to smear generous amounts of the gel on her inner thighs, sweeping his big palms over her skin.

He rubbed it in even though it was unnecessary. Then his fingers swept over her center, wiping globs of the gel through her pussy lips as well, making sure to get every little red dot and scratch. The gel worked quickly, erasing the pain and healing everything like it had never happened. His fingers still lingered though, softly fluttering between her soft folds. His thumb began to gently rub over her clit, even though she was pretty sure he hadn't sustained any damage there.

She was almost content just to let him continue, but instead sat up on her elbows eyeing him, "Getting a little frisky with the cream aren't you?"

His chest let out a low rumble, and his hands pulled away but his body pressed closer, "My musk after sex cover your tempting smell. Be safer."

"That's how you're going to initiate sex? Really? By saying it will be safer that everyone knows you own my body?" She let out a sarcastic laugh, but his mouth quickly covered hers, and his hips pressed down between her legs.

Sparks ignited inside her, and she supposed it wasn't a bad way to start things off. His strong hands went under her arms to slide her more towards the center of the bed, and his body followed right on top of her, their mouths never losing contact. His fingers traced around the outer edges of her nipples as her hands rose to feel his incredible back muscles. But with him already on top of her, he seemed ready to jump into the sex and she just wanted to play a little more.

Liana tried to be rough with him, knowing anything she did couldn't really hurt him and he would probably like it. Her hand slammed into his shoulder to try and flip him over, however, without his help it was no use.

"Lie down on your back." She said, shoving at him.

His head sort of tilted at her but he complied. With him watching her, she lowered her face to his cock. Her hand wrapped around his girth as it softly grew in size, and she laid a kiss right at the base of his shaft. His chest rumbled, and then she started with slow and sensual licks all over his shaft as she stroked him. She looked into his eyes often, loving thrill of him watching her, and flicked her tongue and his soft tip.

He was too big for her mouth, which disappointed her. But his hips rocked up, encouraging her, and she knew he liked what she was doing anyway. She began to squeeze a bit harder, moving her hand up and down a bit faster. She still licked at him as she did, fervently, desperately, like he was a melting ice cream cone. Her other hand came up to touch his balls, gently at first, unsure what he liked. Then she began to lick those too, causing a strained exhale to escape De'aro.

He was becoming more impatient, tipping his hips up to meet her hand, and before long he sat up and reached for her. His hands grabbed her under the arms and pulled her ontop of him, his breaths heavy with lust. His face nuzzled into her neck, and then gave her a playful bite. She squirmed, tingles heading right to her loins from feeling such sharp teeth on her. She was not done his her delicious torture though, now able to reach into his hair and grope at the strands.

His body tensed as she squeezed at them, and shuddered under her as he gently pulled. His hands rose to her hips, sliding over her skin until he cupped her breasts. When he couldn't handle any more, he tried to turn and flip her over, but she protested. Liana shoved at his shoulders to get him to lie back down, and then began to slide back on him until she felt his cock stirring beneath her. She undulated her hips over him, sliding his shaft between her folds and getting him lubricated with her juices.

He was rumbling like an engine before she finally rose up and held his cock in place. Her eyes closed as she slid down on him, her walls stretching to accommodate his large girth. She started slow, still trying to drive him crazy. With every stroke more of his length slid inside her. Her palms were braced on his muscular chest and his hands went to her hips.

His eyes were watch her, absorbing every inch of her. Her breasts hung down in front of him. He could watch his thick cock disappearing past her folds. She tried to put on a show for him then, standing up straighter and rubbing her fingers over her clit. She could feel his body burning with heat under her.

His hands slid up her body to pull her back over him though. His hands wrapped around her back to hold her there as he began to thrust from underneath her. She moaned and whimpered, then reached for his hair again, roughly tugging in a few strands. His thrusts became more vigorous, his arms tightening around her back.

When she was close, sweat running down her back, she pulled away from him though, not wanting to give in so easy. She tried to let herself calm a little, riding on top of him deep and slow. She wiggled her hips to the side, almost in circles with his cock inside her, bounced on top of him faster, then slowed again, just rocking her hips. It was difficult not to fuck him harder, but she wanted to see more desire from him.

She got what she wanted. His back rose off the bed, and he roughly pulled her chest flush against his. She could feel his pounding heartbeats in his chest, wild with arousal. His long snake-like tongue slipped from his mouth to slide over her collarbone, then up the front of her neck.

"Come on, fuck me hard like a yautja." She breathed.

"Those are dangerous words for such small ooman." He grumbled, his eyes looking over her greedily.

"Then make me regret them."

He bit down on her shoulder as his hips butted her down into the bed, grinding himself into her as he let his weight fall on top of her. Her nails dug into his back, leaving intimate markings. He fucked her like a raging bull, a beast let out if its cage. His grunts filled her ears and his musk filled her senses.

He hammered into her until she was writhing under him, her back arching up against him, her breasts smashed between them. Her arms tightened around his back as the release washed through her, leaving her legs trembling and her body fighting for breath. His seed erupted inside her, a hot gush deep inside her channel. As before, she had squirted him with that clear fluid. He withdrew from her, dripping with it, and bent his head down to lick her clean.

Her lips here still puffy, her clit hard. Her face was flushed as well, her eyes warm and full of lust as she watched him. He licked his mandibles afterwards and then wiped off the juices she'd gotten on him with his hand, licking his fingers with a rumble. He crawled back over her then, just watching her.

She would have been content to lay in bed with him for the rest of the day, but traced her fingers around those short black spikes on his chest and said, "Come on, you're going to have to translate for me."

He got out bed, and put on clothes. As she dressed, he picked up that fleshy strand of hair. Liana would have thought he'd dispose of it, but instead he tied a string around it, and tried to slip it over her neck like a necklace. She shied away.

"You conquer. Wear as symbol." He said.

"Isn't that just a bit disrespectful? Won't he be angry, me apologizing with that around my neck? Won't everyone see it and be mad?"

"Will see it as strength. Impolite, yes, but you already not polite."

"I don't mean to be though, and that thing is gross."

He held her waist and slipped the brown string over her head despite her protests, "Look fierce."

She didn't like the severed thing touching her, but she would listen to De'aro. She'd already pissed off several of his clan already though, and did not see how this was going to help. They were either going to see a piece of their species tender parts hanging around her neck and want to tear her throat out, or they would see an ooman girl who had bested one of them, even one so young, and feel she deserved a place among them. It seemed to much to hope for the latter.

De'aro led her to the door, and she stood waiting. After a minute though, she asked, "How do we know he's in there?"

He pointed above the door at some symbols, and assumed they switched then no one was in the room, not that it mattered to her if she couldn't read the symbols.

She waited a bit longer, and then turned to face De'aro, "I don't think he wants to answer the door."

De'aro shoved her out of the way and pounded his fist on the door, yelling inside like he was a police officer. The door opened a little, and De'aro talked for a while before the door opened all the way and he stepped inside. Liana followed, only to have the young yautja extend his serrated blades and advance on her. She tried not to seem nervous at all and did not back away, knowing De'aro was close and could protect her.

The young yautja yelled at her, and De'aro said, "He accuses you of seducing him with your smell, then stealing a piece of him without warrant. Now, he want's a piece of you. A rematch."

"I don't want to fight him; I want to apologize." She said, and De'aro translated.

The young yautja tilted his head to the side slightly, then De'aro translated his words, "Says he doesn't want apology. Wants to fight you again, wants you to have to take off the necklace. Clan will see it and shame him."

Liana shook her head, "He broke my ribs. I don't want to fight him again." Even though she was talking to De'aro, he translated it for the young yautja.

The yautja had been looking tense and nervous, but now took a bold step towards her, "Should not have struggled. Would have enjoyed it."

Her mouth dropped, "No, I certainly would not have enjoyed it! I wouldn't want some young stud that doesn't even know how to have sex breathing down my neck, but besides that, you have spines on your...anatomy."

"He says he knows how to have sex, says its simple. Never heard of female that complained about spines."

De'aro took over the conversation for a minute, probably explaining that the spikes would have torn her up and how already they had left marks on her legs.

Then, the young yautja surprised her, "He says that he is sorry for hurting you, but he wants rematch. You win, you keep the necklace. You lose, and he gets to fuck you."

"No! Tell him he is a horny bastard and I'm keeping the necklace. No rematch, he already lost once."

De'aro promptly translated, and the young yautja stared her down and said, "You win, keep necklace. You lose, he gets to touch you."

"Still a no." She said, crossing her arms.

"He says: You win, keep necklace. You lose, he undress you."

"Nope." She shook her head.

"You win, keep necklace. You lose, he gets a kiss."

She let out a sigh, and turned to De'aro, "Are all teenage yautja like this?"

De'aro seemed quite amused, "Libido and fight, yes. Your body is mine, my musk all over you...but a kiss seems fair price to keep necklace. It will be unarmed. I can tell you what to do."

"Do you think I can win?" She asked, looking up in his eyes.

De'aro turned away from her, "Will be good practice."

"Practice? You don't think I can win...How do I accept? Tell him we have a deal."

"He will likely break bones again." De'aro warned.

"I know. Tell him I agree."

De'aro spoke to the young yautja whose yellow eyes snapped over to Liana, already sizing her up. He retracted his serrated blades back into his wrist gauntlet as De'aro continued to talk. She tried to think up a strategy, or come up with any advantage she had over him. De'aro had said he could tell her what to do, but she figured she would be much on her own, unused to following commands in the middle of a fight. Her heart began to race and pound against her ribcage, adrenaline injecting into her veins. She wanted to prove to De'aro that she could be tough.


	26. Chapter 26

Though he was shorter and skinnier than De'aro, he did not look like a young teenager to her. His stomach was a wall of muscle, and hitting that would only wear her out. His forehead looked tough as a brick, so a headbutt would not be affective. He didn't have a nose, or else she would slam her fist into it. At least he had taken off the wrist gauntlets, as they would only protect his arms and he could even hit her with them.

His hair was the real weak spot, but she figured that he would not be letting her near them again. He was male, so obviously his groin would be a weak spot, but it was no doubt an area that he would be used to protecting. The young yautjas mandibles looked like a weak spot, but if she hit them wrong she guessed that all she would get is bloody knuckles from those tusks or the sharp teeth behind them. She couldn't come up with a definite tactic.

Liana was smaller, but doubted she was faster. She was weaker as well. She was unarmed. Her nails and teeth were blunt compared to his. She had no prior training. Her body tensed, hands going to fists, but was regretting not trying to negotiate better terms. She should have asked for a weapon, or even just skipping the fighting and offered the guy a kiss for ripping out his hair.

De'aro spoke, breaking her concentration, but she knew she was going to need the help, "Do as I say, as soon as I say it. No hesitation."

"Ok." She didn't want to sound pathetic, but asked, "What do I do first?"

"Wider stance. Don't lose balance. Don't go to the floor."

That was going to be easier said than done, but she shifted her feet, then asked, "Now what?"

The young yautja had begun to circle her some, and she kept eye contact with him as De'aro said, "He has height advantage. Easy to hit face. Raise your arms, block your head."

She did as he said, raising her arms like she'd seen boxers do. However, the young yautja seemed to be waiting for her to make the first move. She figured he was waiting for her to do something predictable and easy to block. Thinking to catch him off guard then, she slipped off her sandal and threw it at his head. It hit him too, right between the eyes, and he cocked his head at her. She held back an ornery smile and slipped off the other sandal as well.

He would not stand to be pelted with her shoes though, and decided to attack. He didn't go for her head or face, but instead landed a quick blow to her stomach before she could block him. Liana bent over at her stomach with a moan, her guts feeling bruised, and she tried not to puke. The sandal fell from her hand. She saw movement and thought he would hit her again while she was stunned, but he seemed to be backing away. She lifted her eyes to his, his stance and features looking smug.

"Don't stand one place, thinking to dodge. Always be ready to move." De'aro said.

Liana regained her composure, lifting up her arms again to guard her head. The young yautja had began to circle her again, making her feel like prey, and she hated it. Liana quickly stepped close and threw her fist into his solar plexus. It was the area between the chest and abs, supposed to be a more sensitive area. The young yautja didn't budge, acting as if he didn't feel a thing. As he stared down at her, her chest began draw in quicker breaths, realizing this was going to be impossible.

She had left her head unprotected, and his fist connected with her cheek, sharply forcing her face to the side. She stumbled back, temporarily seeing stars. Liana glared up at him then, and rolled her shoulders trying to shake off the pain.

"Use heel, step on toes. Same time, hit jaw."

Liana listened immediately, closing the gap between them and turning sideways as to give him less to hit at. She jammed her heel down onto his toes, not his foot, intending to break them if she was capable of it. As she did that, she threw her arm straight up into the air as hard as she could, her fist connecting with the bottom of his jaw. His teeth harshly clicked together, and she bounced away before the young yautja could retaliate.

He was quick, following her as she backed away, throwing punches left and right. Though she blocked her head, his punches hurt her arms and she was growing tired of holding them up. All she could do was block, he didn't leave any time in between throws to allow her to try and fight back. She listened when De'aro told her not to hold her breath but to breathe deep while she was on the defense. At every blow though, all she wanted to do was hold her breath and jerk her head away, but she resisted that instinct.

As she seemed able to hold her own, the yautja began to throw more of a variety at her. He was fast. She struggled to block her stomach, dodge his blows, and protect her head. Her breaths quickly became labored and shallow. All she could do was to keep backing away from him so the hits did not have as much impact, and she still hadn't been able to throw anything back at him.

"He stronger, do not block his blows directly, but redirect them."

When the young yautja went for her stomach again, she thrust her arm down onto his, forcing his swing lower and effectively preventing him from hitting her. As he through his fist towards her face, her arm collided with his to throw his aim to the side. Redirecting his blows was easier than blocking them, and she tried to hit that solar plexus again. But this time, she jabbed her elbow into him instead of her fist and that seemed to have a bit more of an impact.

Liana had been focusing on his arms, but this time his leg shot out and kicked her right in the stomach, quickly sending her backwards and to the ground. De'aro barked his orders at her now, telling her to stand up. She wobbled to her feet but the yautja headbutted her, sending her straight back to the ground. She felt blood draw a line down her forehead. and the pain made her dizzy.

"Get up! Don't let him get over you!" De'aro warned her urgently.

She kept blinking, trying to get rid of the stars in her vision, and tried to scramble to her feet. A strong hand wrapped around her throat though, and shoved her down, the back of her head hitting the hard floor. His fingers tightened, taking away all her air. She kicked her legs uselessly, beginning to feel helpless.

"Eyes and throat." De'aro growled.

She was glad that the younger yautja did not speak english, and her hands shot up at him. However, probably fearing for his hair, his body straitened, bringing his head up and out of her reach. She was feeling lightheaded and weak, and her legs went still. She begged for De'aro's advice.

"Break fingers."

Her hands went to her throat, her fingers trying to pry his away. His strength was incredible, and she wasn't about to be able to lift his thumb off the front of her throat. However, his pinky finger she got a hold of and bent it backwards. She heard the crack, and then he roared in pain, his hand flying off her neck. She sucked in desperate breaths, her ears ringing from his roar, and took the opportunity to jump up to her feet.

As the young yautja stood, De'aro said, "Kick his knees, bring him down."

Liana caught him off guard, kicking at the side of his knee, sending him jerking to the side as he fell. She landed a chop to his throat, and forced him from his knees to his back. She dropped down on top of him, finally in the position of power, and she slammed her fist into his face as he growled. Her weight was nothing to him though, and his claws dug into her side, leaving deep gouges, and he tossed her off of him. He rolled over and tried to pin her down, but she jabbed her fingers into his eyes just before he lifted his head away.

The young yautja growled, and then said something. De'aro had to translate, "He said, this female fights dirty."

She tried to stand, but he dragged her back to the floor with him. She punched and kicked and flailed, but he got on top of her. Her heart was racing wildly, and he taunted her. He pinned her wrists above her head and lowered himself on top of her, leaving her crushed under his weight. His face lowered to hers, his tongue slipping out to lick at the pulse on her neck. She feared he thought he had won and would force a kiss on her now.

"Bite him." De'aro prompted.

Liana lifted her head up and bit him where she could, her teeth landing on the bottom of one of his mandibles. He jerked away quickly, releasing her hands with a howl of pain even though she hadn't even caused him to bleed. She quickly sat up on her hands and began to slip out from under him when she saw the fist headed straight for her face. She didn't have time to move, and he hit her so hard her head was thrown back and collided with the floor. She didn't feel the pain of it, as everything went black.

She woke up in the medical room, on a metal pedestal table that made her feel so small, as it was made for adult yautjas who were far bigger than she was. She knew immediately that De'aro had been right. She knew that she had lost. Reluctantly, she shifted her eyes towards the center of the room where De'aro and the young yautja were standing. She sat up cautiously, waiting for a headache or pain after everything that had happened, but her body felt fine.

Her eyes just barely began to glisten over as she looked to De'aro, taking off the necklace. She let the waxy dread lie on the table as she hopped down and made her way to the young yautja. She stopped in front of him, not meeting his eyes. She knew what came next, and he was happy to give it to her, his chest uttering a soft pur. He still did not trust her though, and his hands held her arms securely at her sides, restraining her. As he seemed to hesitate though, she lifted her eyes up to him.

He said something. She was surprised as De'aro translated, "He says, my name is Ka-dro-ka."

"I'm Liana." She said suspiciously, surprised at his sudden politeness.

He looked her over, but still seemed somewhat hesitant. His mandibles twitched some as he stared at her mouth and she had to wonder if he'd just realized that their anatomy didn't match. Her idea and his idea of a kiss were probably very different. As clumsy as he'd seemed before, he leaned in closer and then pulled back. She just wanted him to get out over with. She nervously licked her lips and waited.

He clicked something and De'aro had to translate, "He says not to bite him."

Liana huffed and said, "I promise not to hurt him."

As her words were translated, Ka-dro-ka seemed relieved and tipped his head down to touch his mouth to hers. He didn't move his mandibles out of the way as De'aro did, but instead kept them in front of his teeth. She puckered her lips, feeling awkward knowing that De'aro was watching them. She closed her eyes, thinking maybe that would make it less weird. Ka-dro-ka let out a soft trilling noise as all four mandibles rubbed back and forth across her lips.

Still keeping her arms locked at her sides, his arms slipped around her back to close the gap between them. She was firmly pressed up against his muscular body and he let out a satisfactory rumble. As his tongue reached out to her though his rumble turned into a threatening growl when she tried to turn her face away. She gave in quickly, and dropped her jaw enough to give him entrance.

He purred like a happy house cat, not quite possessing the deep vibrating purr that De'aro had. His hot tongue swirled around and probed her mouth, and he bumped his hips into her. His arms around her tightened. He licked at her as though she was edible. The roof of her mouth, her gums, and even her lips got a thorough licking, leaving his saliva all over her. Her hands tensed at her sides already wanting to wipe her face. What was with teenagers and using way too much tongue?

She suffered through it, even though really it wasn't that horrible. He quickly became ornery again though, grinding his hips up against her, effectively dry dumping her as he kissed her. His skin began to heat and she could feel his racing heart through his chest. He was trilling, rumbling, purring and thoroughly enjoying himself. However, De'aro finally felt the need to step in and save her. His big hand pressed onto Ka-dro-ka's forehead and pried his face away her her.

He started to growl, but De'aro's chest boomed with a deeper and more threatening growl that cut the young yautja short. His arms released her, and he stepped away. Liana quickly wiped the slobber off her face. His yellow eyes looked at her intensely, but he managed to peel himself away without another warning from De'aro and left the room. She had felt sullen about losing, yet as she watched him stalk out the door, she was already considering a rematch. She was confident she could beat him; she just needed a little bit more training.


	27. Chapter 27

As soon as the door closed, De'aro pounced on her. Her body began to fall backwards, her muscles tensing, but he had a hold of her back and her head so she was lowered to the floor safely. He straddled her, pinned her wrists down, and his mandibles played along her neck before giving her a jolting bite. She struggled under him, wanting to kiss or touch him, but he had her restrained. All she could do was tangle her legs around his waist and pull him down on her.

To that, he let out a savage growl, the vibrations shaking her ribcage, and he said, "You are mine. I do not enjoy him touch you. Once you are claimed, no male is to touch you ever."

"Are you mad?" She asked uncertainly.

"No. Not mad at you." He rubbed his face against hers sweetly, "Watch him kiss you. Jealous."

Liana smiled, knowing that if she were jealous of him with another female it would not be amusing at all, yet she did enjoy him being jealous of her. She rubbed her legs over his ass, and reassured him, "Trust me, I did not enjoy it much."

He only growled again, "Should not have enjoyed it at all."

"...That's what I meant."

His amber eyes cast down on her, locking onto her eyes, and she could tell he didn't believe her.

She had always enjoyed teasing and playing with him and said, "Well, maybe I just need a reminder of how well you kiss. Get his out of my head."

De'aro released her arms, and his hand traveled to the back of her head, his claws seizing a handful of her hair. With a roughness she just couldn't help but enjoy, he tipped her head back, exposing her neck. His tusks trailed over the front of her neck, leaving burning lines in her skin. His long tongue swept up her neck, teasing her and then flicking over her lips. He pulled her head up to meet his, his mandibles widening over her face to feel the touch of her lips against his mouth.

She slid her hands under his smooth dreads and wrapped her arms around his neck. Her eyes fell closed as she moved her lips against his mouth, her movements growing more desperate as they continued. His tongue found its way into her mouth, and she moaned into his kiss, her arms tightening around him, loving that strange taste of spice his tongue carried. She was out of breath by the time he leaned away. She stared up at him, and one of her hands stroked at his dark grey dreads.

"I love you." She whispered.

De'aro leaned his forehead down against hers, "And I love you."

After a moment he helped her to stand and said, "You did well, even against unblooded. Will train you if you wish it."

"I want to kick his ass!"

De'aro trilled, and said, "Then I will teach you how to do just that."

"I do have a question though. You keep calling him unblooded, and I have no idea what that means."

"Unblooded. Never killed."

"Never?" She was sort of shocked, as humans could go out hunting with their parents at a very young age and shoot something. For a yautja teenager to have never killed anything just sounded odd.

De'aro explained, "Need learn why kill. Learn honor first before taking life."

"When will he be able to hunt?"

"Now if he chose. But need to learn how. Is dangerous. Can't hunt something unworthy, and worthy prey is deadly. Needs to be prepared. Once he kill, get good, have to pass chiva."

"Chiva?" She was surprised she was getting so much information out of him, as she figured these would all be good questions for Acc'ora.

De'aro seemed happy to answer her questions though, and said, "Chiva. Trial. Make kill, are young blood. Pass chiva, are blooded. Pass chiva, are citizen, are true hunter. Don't pass chiva, are not yautja. Better to die."

"And what are you?" She should not have asked again, as the question seemed to shut him down.

He switched the subject, "Will train you, not be gentle. But you must know honor code, yautja laws. You must know what happen when laws are broke. Badblood caught recently, execution tomorrow. Take you to it...You hungry? Feed you now."

With that, the conversation was over. Liana was worried that the next meal would be a fight, but as they got to the dining room, the table was completely empty. She sat in a chair and there was no one there to complain except De'aro and she could deal with him. She knew every meal was not going to be like that though. She tried to remember that Acc'ora had said, to pick her battles. Sitting on the floor was not going to be that huge of a deal.

When the time came for the execution, he led her back to the room that was filled with ships. Machines found his among the others and set it down on the middle of the floor, which would also serve as the elevator up to the roof. The ship seemed to recognize him, and the ramp dropped as he walked closer. Liana followed behind him, into the main control room with the screen, and he sat down in the chair. She was ready just to stand beside him, but he grabbed her and sat her on his lap.

After the ship took off and he set it on some sort of autopilot, he began to explain where they were going, "Badblood is banished ones, outside of yautja law. If found, usually killed. Do something bad enough, they are hunted. If caught, brought back and executed, made example out of." He brushed away the holograms in front of him, and watched the buildings zipping by instead, "We go to altar, watch him executed. Be lots of people. Stay close."

Before she could even ask any questions they were landing, this time on the roof of some sort of strange orb shaped building in the middle of nowhere. The ship was once again tucked away with the others and De'aro led her through the house. The building was different from where they lived, the walls seeming thickly decorated with strange protruding patterns that were not simply ornately carved into the walls like at home. The lighting was about the same, the walls seeming to glow brightly but without hurting your eyes.

They rode an elevated to the ground floor, and then De'aro nudged her out the main door into a dense crowd of other yautjas. De'aro held her shoulders in front of him, keeping her away from the others who stared down at her. They kept close to the door, and she fidgeted with her nails, waiting for something to happen. The crowd was clicking and chattering away, so she figured it was safe to ask some questions.

"What did he do?"

"To become a badblood? I do not know. But know the evidence against him, heard they found child skulls on his ship."

The doors they had came out of suddenly opened wide, and the crowd quickly parted to allow two yautja to come strolling out. There were dressed elegantly, their armor decorated with symbols, and with many ornate weapons strapped to them. Their masks were cruel with their stillness, hiding any expressions as they both yanked on the chains in their hands. A naked yautja was pulled out the door, shackles around his wrists and neck. Deep gouges, as though he had been whipped many times over, riddled his body.

He stumbled as the chains went taught, obviously weak. As soon as the yautja saw her, he leaned closer, uttering a loud garbled hiss, a sound she'd never heard from a yautja. She wondered if they'd beaten him so hard he could not roar anymore. She pressed her back against De'aro, not liking how close he was. The chains thrust him forward though as the crowd continued to part down the middle, allowing them to pass through.

The crowd began to follow behind the two guards and their prisoner, and she could see the alter sticking up in the distance. De'aro kept her right in front of him so she would not have to shuffle in between the other bodies in the crowd. She had been curious before, but was beginning to wish that she had declined his offer of seeing the execution.

De'aro began to speak quietly, "Crowd saying he was elite hunter. To kill children after reaching such status, don't understand...I will be elite hunter one day, very experienced."

She knew he probably would not answer her, but she just had to ask, "Are you blooded?"

De'aro stopped walking altogether, and a yautja behind him shoved him forward. They continued to walk, and she could sense his eyes on her. Finally he said, "Yes, of course am blooded. Would not been allowed to earth otherwise." He said matter of factly.

He sounded so offended, so she apologized, "Sorry. You never tell me your rank so I don't know what to think of you."

She could tell now that the altar was made out of a rough circular stone, with a staircase cut into the side of it. The rock was plain with no markings, but had a metallic luster to it. The stone path they were walking began to dip in, as though it had been eroded or worn away by so many crowds throughout the years. Her eyes were on the captive yautja, watching him begin to struggle as they drew closer to the alter.

"Am blooded, that is all." De'aro mumbled.

"What's so bad about that?" She asked, as he never seemed happy to admit his rank.

"I did best at my chiva compared to the others with me, did so well I was honored for it. Got to chose where to hunt, could pick anywhere, even planets hard to get clearance to. Would be first hunt as blooded yautja, first official hunt…"

He began to trail off but Liana wanted to keep him talking, "Where did you chose?"

"Chose Earth."

"Oh…" She was already thinking about what that meant before he said it.

"Hunt on Earth was my first. After being privileged for chiva, had to be rescued. First hunt was failure."

"I ruined your first official hunt? Your first time to Earth?"

"Yes. Failure is seen as worse than death. Better to have committed honorable suicide, but could not. Am not seen as so skilled anymore, but I will prove myself to them, soon...Have to take care of you first."

"De'aro, you don't have to take care of me; you can go on a hunt." Her words just came out, but then she began to fear for him, fear that he would not make it back.

"No. Don't trust clan, not their fault, but afraid they hurt you."

"Why can't Acc'ora or the clan leader Yas-ag watch me? You'd be quick right? Be back in a few weeks?"

"You feel comfortable with them?"

"Sure."

De'aro brushed his fingers through her hair and said, "I go on short hunt, come back soon. Even that will raise status, claim you as mate sooner."

Despite seeming so weak, the captive yautja began to struggle more fiercely. His dreads swung as he yanked back on the chains, his bare feet digging into the path to try and halt his march to death. The two that drug him did not look back at him, and simply maintained their steady pace. As he lashed out at the crowd, a yautja beat him back onto the path, and he was drug on his stomach for a while before he seemed able to stand again.

The two yanked him up the worn stairs and then forced him onto his back. They chained down his arms, and legs, and the one held up an ornate dagger for the crowd to see. Even from where she stood, she could see the yautjas heaving chest though his limbs had gone still. The guard cut the chained yautjas hands in a line, and then his feet, causing blood to drip off the top of the altar. Bright green blood ran down the already stained sides of the rock.

It made her stomach churn and her guts hurt, but she watched. Already chained down and going to slowly bleed to death, the yautja suddenly let out a fierce roar of defiance. It was so loud, De'aro's hands quickly went to cover her ears so that the sound would not hurt her. After that outburst, he was back to his calm state, and blood continued to drain from him. The crowd began to dwindle, and Liana stared at the two streaks of blood oozing down the side of the stone like tears.


	28. Chapter 28

After the disturbing event of the execution, Liana was happy to be back in the nursery while De'aro prepared for a hunt. Acc'ora was able to show her a different side to yautjas, a gentler side, and even though she did not like children she enjoyed the women's stories and her lessons. She talked about yautja culture, and the variety it held among clans just like on Earth and the different continents. She told her about the yautja titles and the ranking system. Liana bounced a little yautja child on her knee as she listened.

The door slid into the wall, and Liana quickly set the child back in the crib and stood to greet whoever had entered. It was a female, around nine foot tall, with orangeish striping on her outer legs and arms. Her hair was long, going all the way down to the middle of her back. Her silver eyes met with Liana's but she quickly glanced down at the floor as not to initiate a challenge. She had forgotten to check the bead in her hair to see if she was a clan member, but bowed anyway, hoping she had made the right decision.

The female began to yell, though she kept her words hushed and grit between her teeth as to not disturb the newborns and small children. Liana just knew it had to be something about her. She slowly lifted from her bow and relaxed her hands at her sides, and turned to look at Acc'ora for help. She didn't have a clue what the woman was yelling about. Acc'ora slowly stood and began to regard the female, but it seemed all downhill from there. The female scooped up two of the newborns from their cribs and stormed from the room.

"Liana, I am sorry, but she had banned you from the nursery. It is out of my hands."

"Why? Did I do something wrong?"

"No, child, you did nothing wrong. She does not want her sucklings brought up by an alien. You are ooman, filthy in her eyes...I still have work to do here, but I can introduce you to a friend of mine."

She quietly followed behind Acc'ora who led her through the maze of hallways to a door, and they patiently waited. The yautja who answered the door made her heart leap a little, just looking at him. He was a mere seven foot tall, but a bit stockier than most of the yautja she'd seen. His face was lined with spikes; his eyebrows were spikes, and his cheeks held spikes like a beard. More spikes trailed down his shoulders and down his chest. His eyes looked like molten gold, and he started down at her.

"This is R'ka-rak'ytara. His name means fire guardian. He doesn't know english, but has a translator implanted so that he can speak many languages. I trust him to watch you until I am off work." Without another word, Acc'ora left.

Liana stared up at the man, and he sidestepped out of the doorway, inviting her into his bedroom. If Acc'ora trusted him, then so would she. Plus, she had been distracted and hadn't bowed to him and yet he did not seem upset about that. She figured she was safe, and stepped inside. Liana just stood inside the room though, unsure of what to do now.

Since he could speak english, she cleared her throat and asked, "Can you help me find a job? I want to be useful around here, but I was just banned from the nursery."

"Oomans are pets or servants. They do not have jobs." He did not say it in a mean way, but simply stated it matter-of-factly.

"Well I want a job. Will you help me?"

His mandibles twitched in thought for a moment, then he said, "I'll take you to the library so that you can see that kind of jobs are available, but will not convince anyone to give you job, and will not take you outside the house."

"Sounds like a deal. Lead the way to the library."

He took her through the house to the huge library room, filled with strange tablets on shelves built into the wall. He showed her the different sections, and she picked out a tablet at random just to play with it. She quickly remembered however, that she could not read their language. She stared down at the tiny red symbols for a minute before looking up at the guy.

She held out the tablet to him, "Can you tell me what this says?"

His response was a rumbled, "You want me to read to you?"

"Please?"

The guy was softer on the inside than he looked, and he grabbed the tablet from her hand. He moved over to one of the seating arrangements and sat down, waiting for her to sit as well. She took a moment to get comfy, and then smiled at him. His eyes dropped to the tablet with a huff, and he began to read it for her. She listened to him, but let her mind wander some, trying to figure out the best option for her.

She would not waste her talents on cleaning and servant work, though that seemed the most prominent option for her. The nursery at the house was out of the picture, probably with any child care as well, but that didn't bother her. so much The older they got, the worse children got and she did not need the headaches. Medicine and machinery were too complicated and advanced for her, she knew that much. Cooking might have been an option, but she was pretty sure her sense of taste was going to be off for what their species liked, and again it would be trivial house work.

The tablet mentioned different forms of entertainment, but she was afraid she'd feel like a cheap stripper. Already, she did not like so many yautja eyes on her. The more he read, the more interesting the job descriptions became though, and she felt she was getting closer to finding something. An archaeologist sort of job might be nice, as finding artifacts on an alien planet was bound to be stimulating. The demand for such a job though was low and with her being an ooman that couldn't even read, the chances of getting into that field were slim.

Liana started feeling that she wasn't very capable of getting a job, and stopped him from reading by asking, "Can you tell me what each of the symbols mean?"

His head flopped in her direction, "Now you want me to teach you how to read?"

"Please?"

He exhaled loudly, and said, "Ok."

Liana jumped off the couch-like furniture she had been sitting on across from him, and sat down beside him instead so he could show her the symbols. As she scooted closer to him, he inched away from her but extended the tablet over to her so she could see. He started with the very basics, telling her the alphabet and numbers, one claw pointing to each as he said it. As they sat there, a few other yautja came and went, and R'ka-rak'ytara stopped his teachings to growl at them when they lingered, giving him and the ooman funny looks.

When her head began to ache and her eyes hurt, she sat back in the couch and said, "I think that's a good enough lesson for the day."

He seemed relieved, and quickly got up to put the tablet back in its place on the shelf and turned back to her, "Do you want me to take you back to your room?"

He wanted to get rid of her, but she asked instead, "Can you show me around the house? I've only seen a medical room, library, and a trophy room. Is there anything else?"

"You want a tour?" He acted as though she was being unreasonable.

"Please?"

He gave in again and said, "Follow me."

The house was spacious, but deceptively empty. There were hidden rooms and compartments everywhere including hidden wall hooks, shelves, weapons, and such and he incorporated them into the tour. When they reached the garden however, he let her lead and trailed behind her as she wandered. Thick vegetation surrounded stone pathways in a huge greenhouse like room attached to the house. There were towering trees, hanging vines, and even a small waterfall.

There were sorts of hammocks in the garden as well, and Liana crawled up into one. When she struggled to swing her leg off the edge to make the hammock sway, FireGuardian practically rolled his eyes at her-but he grabbed the edge of the thick cloth and pulled on it so it began to swing. She liked the garden, and knew someone had to maintain it. It would be an at-home job so De'aro would not have to worry about her. She added gardening to her mental list of job possibilities.

When she had a good eyeful of the garden, she allowed him to continue the tour. This time, they ventured out the back of the house. There was a huge enclosed hangout outside, complete with a roaring bonfire, soft stone walkways, and even a sort of treehouse. The treehouse of course, she had to go see. Liana took the lead again, walking straight up to the base of the thick tree trunk, staring up at the structure high up in the branches.

There was no ladder leading up to it, only a rope with knots tied throughout. She jumped onto the rope, her sandals supported by the bottom knot and she tried to climb up. The knots were placed within arms reach of someone who was at least seven foot tall it seemed, making it difficult for her to reach them. She struggled for a few minutes, her feet making it to the second knot before she stilled. Her light blue eyes followed up the rope to the top, realizing that the house was a good fifty feet in the air at least.

Reluctantly, she dropped back down to the ground, and turned to the yautja with all the spikes. He rested his hands on his hips and asked, "You want me to carry you all the way up there?"

"That's not what I was going to ask. Is there another way up?"

"There is not." Before she could turn away to find something else to look at, he grabbed her forearms and threw her over his back like a cape.

She let out a squeak and automatically wrapped her arms around his torso, but all he said was, "Hold on tight." And he began to scale the rope.

Her arms tightened around his neck in a death grip, glad that he had the metal jewelry rings around his neck or she'd likely be choking him. Even with her on his back, he climbed up easily, one hand grabbing each new knot and pulling himself up. She would have began calling him Superman after that, but she wasn't sure how yautja took to nicknames. Up at the top he turned around and let her drop safely onto the metal platform away from the edge. There was no gate to keep anyone from tumbling off.

She smiled immediately as she opened the door, finding that the walls and ceiling were covered completely in soft beautiful furs and that the floor looked like a giant bed. There were pillows scattered about the floor, but otherwise the room was empty. She stepped forward down onto the bed, but quickly retracted her foot as the bed caved under her weight. She crouched down to shove at the bed before her, and watched as the entire surface rippled.

She stood up and whirled around to look at FireGuardian, "Is this a waterbed?"

"It is."

Liana glanced behind her, checking where she would land, and then allowed herself to fall backwards into the bed. She sank into its softness at first, and then it bobbed her up and down. She rolled around in the bed, making her way to the center where it rocked and tossed her about the most when she moved. She couldn't stop grinning.

"Come on, get in here with me, I feel silly doing this by myself."

"You want me to join you?" Again, he made it sound as though she made the most absurd requests.

"Please?"

He eyed her for a moment, and then slowly stepped onto the waterbed, managing to balance himself without looking shaky while even on her knees on such an immense water bed threw her off. He looked down, not looking like he was having any fun, and picked a spot to flop down. His sudden weight made the water bed tip, the opposite side where she was rising up. It was so sudden, she ended up rolling and smacked right into his chest with a giggle. His mandibles flexed with surprise.

Seconds later though she made a pained noise and peeled her hand off his shoulder, pulling off from the spikes that had gone through her palm. The waterbed was no doubt made of a strong material that would not be punctured by the short spikes, yet her skin was not so tough. She squeezed her hand closed despite the pain, trying to keep it from bleeding on the bed. Before she knew what was happening, he'd hauled her up by her midsection and carried her out the door.

"I must heal you quickly, or else Acc'ora will be mad at me." he said, tossing her over his back again for the climb down.

"It's nothing really. I'm fine."

"A females anger is nothing to test. I will have you healed immediately." He carried her down and she did not complain.

Again, she was back in the medical room and she helped herself to finding and putting on the healing enzyme cream. Satisfied, he continued the tour of the house. When she had been shown everything, she asked about the ships and he took her into his ship to show her the controls and how everything worked. The days continued to progress in much the same way, switching between accompanying him and Acc'ora.


	29. Chapter 29

In the morning, she rolled out of bed wishing that De'aro was done with his hunt already. She showered, then dressed. FireGuardian had said that he should be waiting outside her door when she woke to take her to breakfast. The fat iguana was getting restless and had begun to chew on things and she knew she would have to bring back food for it. She had been happy at least to find that De'aro left a dish of water on the ground for it before he left for his hunt.

Liana opened the bedroom door and peeked out, seeing if FireGuardian was out there waiting as he said he should be. The hallways was empty though. She wondered if she had slept in too late or woken up early, as she still didn't have a very good grasp of time on this planet yet. He had showed her how to work the computer in the wall by the door, which would allow her to contact him if she needed to leave the room. She leaned back in the door and began to touch the panel in the sequence he had shown, even though she still could not decipher the symbols.

The door began to close, but not before the clicking of nails across the hard floor alerted her to the escaping iguana. Her head whipped to the ground, seeing its thin green-blue tail disappear out the door and into the hallway. She kept the door from closing, but hesitated on venturing out to catch it. Too many times already had she not listened to orders and suffered for it. Both Acc'ora and FireGuardian had firmly told her not to go anywhere alone.

She leaned her weight against the doorframe, watching the iguana. It seemed skilled at climbing the carved falls, but its fat belly kept getting in the way and made it harder for it to hang on with such thin fingers. The iguana abandoned the idea of climbing and sat at the end of the hallway. She waited for it to run off, but it just sat there. Liana looked back at the panel wondering if she could get ahold of FireGuardian to come find her pet before someone else did.

She was amused at the thought, already knowing what he would say. He would probably stare down at her, looking all tough and scary and ask something like, "You want me to go chase a lizard?" She knew he would do it too. She could already picture his bulk running down the hallways after the fat and wobbly iguana. However, when she peered down the hall again, the iguana was still in the exact same position, big bug eyes just bouncing around like a chameleon.

She shook her head at the ridiculous animal, and stepped out into the hallway towards him. He tipped his head as she got closer, but otherwise did not move. Ed was such a lazy thing, yet she knew he was capable of bursts of energy and speed. The hungrier he got, the more rambunctious he got. She scooped him up into her arms, and carried him back to the room.

Footsteps just around the corner close to the bedroom door spooked him however, and he leapt from her arms. She had to make a quick choice of either facing whoever was coming down the hall, or chase after the iguana. She swiveled around and went after the iguana, following it through the halls until it stopped again. She could have kicked herself for not just getting in the room, as it probably had just been FireGuardian coming down the hall. She tried to grab the iguana again, but he skittered away and up onto a section of the wall that turned out to be a door.

She cursed at him as the door slid open to the side some, and the fat iguana dropped inside the room. She slowly walked after it, knowing without a doubt that she would not enter anyones bedroom ever again. Liana peeked in the door, seeing that it wasn't a bedroom though, but something far worse. It was another room of skulls. There were masks set in divots in the wall and creamy white skulls were spaced about the room. It did not look like the cluttered room that De'aro had showed her. This room looked more like someones personal collection.

She watched the iguana bite down on one of the skulls hungrily, and she yelled at him, "Ed! Ed stop that!" She didn't think he could really damage them as he lacked teeth, but his nails certainly could leave scratches.

When the iguana did not stop, she stepped into the room, noticing that the panel at her feet glowed red for a moment and then faded. She almost backed out of the room uncertainly, but then the iguana began to climb on the skulls. She rushed forward to grab at his tail but he jumped away and his belly flopped onto a skull just out of her reach. He seemed to look down at her mockingly, and then his orange tongue rolled out to lick the skull under his feet.

"Ed, you bastard, I'm gonna kill you for this!" She whirled away from him to march herself back to the room to call for assistance.

At the door however, a scraping slide entered her ears and she turned back to see that he was unintentionally pushing a small skull off of its perch. She dove to catch it as it fell and the small skull landed safely in her palm though her heart was panicking. Liana glanced at the door and then back at the iguana, feeling stuck. If she left him, he might break something. But, if she stayed, she might get caught in a room she was not supposed to be in.

She stayed, knowing that if he broke one of the trophies that all hell would break loose. Still, she did not know how to get him down without help. Liana gently set the small skull down on the ground and tried making little clicking noises to get Ed's attention. But like De'aro had said, the animal seemed incapable of learning its name or listening to commands. Even making little kissing calls did not gain his attention.

Liana knew she had taken too long to feed him, but the little bugger ate more frequently than even she did. De'aro had said it was a scavenger that ate tiny bits of whatever it could find but ate several times a day. She had tried to keep food in the room for him, but even though he would still eat it, she hadn't wanted rotting fruit and meat sitting out. She was seriously regretting not providing it more food as it bit down on another skull then kicked it off its post when he found there was nothing tasty on it.

She caught the skull, but suddenly the door was forcefully thrust open behind her and she spun around to see a male yautja enter the room. His hand caught her throat, and lifted her into the air. One hand still holding the skull, her other arm hooked over his to try and release pressure of her neck. His mottled green and yellow skin was starting to blur as his fingers squeezed tighter. She kicked her legs at him uselessly, fighting to be let go.

His face leaned in close, and she stared into his eyes. Where there should have been color, there was only black except for a thin radiating ring of yellow just around his pupils. "So this is what tripped the alarm? A thieving ooman and a pesky lizard?" he snarled.

He snatched up the skull she held and then unceremoniously dropped her to the floor. Pain jolted through her ass and she scrambled to stand but froze instead. Another skull fell, and she heard it splinter into pieces as it hit. All the blood drained from her as she turned to see the shattered bone, and the yautja let out a thundering roar of anger. Liana's hands shot to her ears, trying to block out that murderous sound.

She saw that the iguana was effected by the sound as well, as he fell from his perch on the wall and landed on his back as though he had fainted from it. Just before the pressure became too much and her ears cut out, his roar seized and he stared down at her, his muscles going ridged. He looked like a bomb about to explode, his eyes absolutely still yet staring deep into her with loathing, silently screaming for her death.

"I-I'm sorry. Ed-the iguana-he ran off and I tried to catch him. He knocked skulls off but I was catching them before you came in. I'm sorry."

His words were deadly calm, "For it then, it is death."

His foot slammed down on the iguana's head, killing it. Liana sucked in a surprised breath as she heard the crunch of bone followed by the squish of its insides as his foot lifted. He wiped the bottom of his sandal on the floor, and she stared at the iguana, uttering a choked sob at seeing its body and then just a smear of brains and blood where its head used to be. Warm tears quickly spilt from her eyes at the death of her pet as well as from overwhelming fear.

She shied away from him as he came closer, the golden beads in his hair hanging down in front of her face and he said, "But you allowed this to happen, owned that animal. For you, it will be servitude."

She hadn't fully registered his words before his hand grabbed a fistfull of her hair and began to drag her out the door. Her fingers reached up to his, trying to pry them off of her as well as keep him from ripping out her hair. He payed no attention to her weak attempt at freeing herself, and drug her through the hallways on her ass. The few yautja that they passed in the halls gave them both questioning glances, but none moved to help her. He drug her all the way to his room, and then into his bathroom where he threw her down on her hands and knees.

She looked up, seeing the cage bars through the blur of tears and he shoved her inside the confinement. She struggled to turn around and by that time the door closed and locked. Still, she cried and thrust her hands on the bars to try and shove the door open. A huffing grunt caught her attention though, and she took notice of the cage beside her. She wiped at her eyes to look at the beast trapped in the other cage.

It was one of their hunting hounds, bigger than a wolf, and void of hair. Dingy white bone spikes rose from its back and its head. It snuffled and smelled at her, and she stared at all its sharp teeth in horror. She let out a whimper, and the animal lunged at her, its teeth crunching down on the metal between them. She pressed herself as far away from it as she could. The yautja was already beginning to walk away though and her eyes shifted away from the beast.

"Let me out." she sobbed weakly, but then caught her breath and yelled again, louder, "Let me out! You can't do this!"

His head sharply turned to stare her down, his jet black dreads swinging through the air as he did, "You're no one to command me. You will stay in there, unless you wish to replace the broken skull with your own."

She let out a shaking sob, her fingers curling around the thin metal bars, "Please, I'm sorry."

The male left, probably to go clean up his trophy room, leaving her there beside the hunting hound. She couldn't stop crying, and she fell over to her side with her body turned away from the other cage. She buried her face in her hands, shaking as she sobbed, knowing she had fucked up again. She brought her knees up to her chest, afraid of what was to become of her. She cried harder not because of all the possibilities, all the pain the man could impose on her. No, she began to cry harder because she knew that when De'aro returned from his hunt he would find her missing.


	30. Chapter 30

Liana heard the garbled voices in the other room, but did not lift her head. Her fingers picked at the pelts that were her clothes, carefully getting one strand of hair isolated and then plucking it out. She blew her breath on it, sending it spiraling into the air. She did not watch it long before her eyes drooped back down to the fur under her hands and tore out another strand of hair. She blew on it, sending it away from her, and then picked out yet another strand.

Hair after hair she did this, until the voices became louder, and she found that she recognized the words. It was not the alien language from the man that she had learned to tune out, but instead was english, and the voice was female. She shifted her position, her leg tingling from having gone numb in the cramped cage, and she slumped up against the cage door even though the bars cut into her skin. She strained to understand the words.

"She is clan property, not just yours! You have no right to keep her locked up!" It was the females voice.

A harsher male voice responded, "She is repaying a debt, so she is temporarily mine. Ask the clan leader if you must, but I know the rules inside and out. I have full rights to her."

"How long?" the female demanded.

A cascading rumble of clicks came from the male before he said, "Took me five years to build the skill it took to go on that hunt and kill that animal. So five years, the ooman will be mine."

"Five years? That is outrageous and you know it! What use is she to you? Why don't you just let her go?"

The male huffed and said, "Plead with the clan leader,Ak-an'atan if you wish, but he will only tell you what I've already said. She is mine, does not matter the purpose. She repays her debt, or her skull goes on the shelf. You should be glad I didn't just kill her."

"Let me see her." The female growled.

"She is no longer any of your concern. Remember that you are in my room, Acc'ora. You have no grounds here."

There was silence for a moment, but then the female spoke again, "She is yours, but only temporarily. When she is returned, she will need to be in full health. If you break bone, you have to heal it."

"I would not return the ooman with missing parts, Acc'ora."

"Then let me see her. Let me know she is still alive."

"She is fine, in the bathroom. You have a few minutes." He man spat.

Liana watched the door open and the tall female enter the bathroom, headed right for the cage. She was taller than the male, with hints of red coloring ever the dark mottled spots on her skin. The woman dropped to her knees in front of the cage, looking in at her. Her long hair slipped off her shoulder as she crouched to be level with Liana's face. She felt comforted just to see someone she recognized, but as her hand rose to touch her it was now Liana's instinct to jerk away.

Her lungs drew in ragged breaths, waiting for pain, but the woman slowly pulled her hand away from the bars. Liana felt her body relax, then stiffen again when she heard the male enter the bathroom. She brought her knees crushed up to her chest as she sat there, and didn't dare look in his eyes ever again.

"What have you done to her? She is shaking!" the female exclaimed, whirling around to stare up at the man.

"I have done nothing. The hound gets the same treatment as she does and he is just fine."

"She has lost so much weight. Don't you feed her?"

"She eats every time I do." he said casually.

"She cannot just be fed every three or four days! You must feed her more!"

"Oomans are all fat, she can shed a few more pounds." He spat.

The female turned back at her now, looking her over. Liana felt ashamed under her scrutiny and wished that she would just leave. She could feel the oil on her skin, and even her hair just felt grimy. Thought she wasn't let out of the cage much, dirt had piled up under hair nails. She had not been provided a bath since he had taken her, and there had been a few times that she had to go to the bathroom and could not hold it before he came back.

Pee had soaked her clothes a few times now, but he had never washed the clothes either. She had grown accustomed to the smell from the hound as well as her own smell, but she knew now that the woman probably thought she stank, and that made her want to start crying. Her teeth felt furry every time her tongue brushed across them. Dark coarse hair had grown in on her legs, and made her feel itchy. Liana kept her arms hugged down against her as well, hiding the hair that grew in her armpits.

She was thirsty all the time, and constantly swallowing down her own saliva to try and quench her thirst. Liana could never get a good nights rest in the cage, especially with that hungry hound right next to her, and she knew there were dark lines and bags under her eyes. She felt that Acc'ora could see all of that and more, and she wanted to shy away where she could not be seen. She was trapped though, unable to move out of her gaze. Her fingers nervously began to pull the fur out of her clothes again.

Liana was relieved when the woman finally tore her eyes off of her and stood. She began to walk straight up the the male then, and a deep and steady purring filled the air. Acc'ora stood over him, her body tense and her breaths slow and determined. The luling purr grew a bit more ragged, losing its soothing pace and sounding faster as she continued to press closer. The male was afraid of the female, that much she could tell. He turned his face to the side, away from her, but without looking down and submitting.

Acc'ora's hands slowly balled into fists, and the purring became impossibly loud. Liana blinked, feeling lightheaded and drowsy from the sound. She let her body slide to the floor of the cage, but tilted her head to the side to continue watching them. The female seemed to drop her shoulders, but then her arm raised and slugged the male in the face, sending him to the floor. Liana watched the male get up, but listened to the woman's footsteps as she stalked out of the room. Though the purring had stopped, she still felt incredibly relaxed, and soon as her eyes closed she was asleep.

For a long time, she an object of his aggression, and he did not hesitate to beat her if she so much as looked in his eyes. He was mad at her for breaking his trophy, and anytime she did something he did not like he corrected the behavior with pain. Jolts of electricity, being let out of the cage to fight with the hunting hound, and being beaten were becoming all too familiar to her. The hound was given the same physical shows of dominance and punishment until the animal began to listen to the yautjas commands. After that, the giant hound was left to roam about the room freely.

She wanted out of the cage too, wanted to be able to stand up and stretch. However, she did not know how to win that privilege when he never gave her any commands. He did not seem to want her as a servant or slave, and never asked anything of her. She supposed then that she was just some sort of living trophy, something to collect. She was owned by him, and that was all he wanted.

Liana had peed herself again, unable to hold it while he was gone almost the entire day, and yautja days were twice as long as earths. She tipped her head up to see a muscular body crouch in front of the cage, skin tinted with a light yellow-green. Her eyes traveled up as far as to his hair, the focusing on the bright gold beads, but she would not look at his face. He had never beaten her for peeing herself before, yet she feared that he would start to.

"I'm sorry." she mumbled.

Her heart began to race as his claws lightly tapped on the lock, and the door slid open. Tentatively, she crawled out of the cage until she felt his hand lock onto the back of her neck. He drug her beside him, and then shoved her into the inground tub that doubled as a shower. As the water hit her, she let out a whimper, the warmth of it taking hold of her. She dropped to her knees, and laid on her back in the shower. Heavy footsteps came to her ears though, and she stood up at seeing the male right in front of her.

As his hand raised to her face, she scrunched her eyes, ready to be hit. Instead, his claws raked through her hair. She tried to calm herself and stopped making such a face. She wanted to question him, but he had never liked her questions in the past. Her mouth opened then shut, but he seemed to sense what she wanted to ask.

"A guest is coming over. You must look presentable, or I will look bad. If this goes well, then I won't put you back in the cage. Understood?"

She nodded and began to untangle her hair for herself, but that was difficult as the ends had started to twist and knot together into dreads. They would need to be cut off. Even though he was still standing close and making her nervous, she knew this would be the only opportunity she would get to prove herself. It had been months, and she knew De'aro would be back from his hunt. She just wanted to see him. If she behaved, maybe he would let her see him.

Liana cleaned herself as quickly as she could, unsure of how much time she had. With his permission, she cut her hair short in the mirror, trying to make sure it was even. She used that enzyme cream on her hair then, just to try and calm the frizz down, but noticed that it made the healthy sheen return to her hair as well. She washed and dried the furs she had been wearing, but put her loincloth on backwards as the bottom edge of the front she had picked at so much it looked funny now.

As soon as he answered the door and the guest entered, Liana stared. For some reason, she had not been expecting it to be a female guest. Her eyes sought out the bead in her hair, finding that it matched the clan symbol, and she bowed to the female who thrilled with delight.

"Pro-ko."

Liana stood straight again, and smiled, being careful not to show her teeth though. He invited her inside and they began to talk in yautja, but soon her captor said, "She asks your name."

"Liana." She answered, not wanting to say any other english words that she might not understand. She was trying to be on her best behavior.

They went back to talking, but the conversation always seemed to come back to her, as the female seemed curious. They went through questions of her age and more, before he surprised her by saying, "She wishes for you to fetch a glass of water for her. She tests my control over you. Run to the kitchen and back as fast as you are capable. Any delay, and when she leaves I will drown you."

She tipped her head down in a bow, and gracefully walked to the door. As soon as she was out of sight, she ran as fast as her legs could carry her. She'd lost weight and strength, but the adrenaline pumping through her veins fueled her foreword. She ran into the dining room, the only way she could remember to get to the kitchen, and leaped over the long table to get to the door.

"Ju'dha! Ju'dha! Ju'dha!" She yelled for water, unable to say a more complicated sentence.

A yautja pointed to the glasses and she filled the cup all the way. Before she left, she grabbed some sort of utensil that looked like a spatula and covered the top of the glass so she would not spill any as she ran. She made it back to the door in record time, tossed the spatula into the hall, and quickly calmed down her breathing.

Liana walked up to the female, and bowed, extending out the glass of water. As the female took the cup from her hand she straightened and noticed that both of them were staring at her with their heads tilted to the side.

They began to talk again, and then the male said, "She said she was surprised at your speed. She said I will be able to train her pups well. Ooman, go into the bathroom and shut the door." His voice sounded hushed and distant, but she obeyed.

Only when the noises started did she realize that the female was someone that he had been courting, and had apparently just won over.

Yautja translations:

Pro-ko - Rise

Ju'dha - Water


	31. Chapter 31

Yautja males always seemed so much more tame after sex, and she supposed that went for all men in general. Her captor went as far as to praise her, as well as get rid of the cage from the bathroom altogether. She helped him tidy up the room and offered her services, anything he might need her to do. When he seemed about to leave though, she mustered up all her courage and stood in front of him, blocking the door. It was a dangerous move, but she bowed, trying to maintain her submissiveness.

"Please, may I be allowed to go see De'aro? Or can he come see me? You can supervise. It can be just for a minute. We don't even have to talk. I...I just want to see him."

To her surprise, his hand gently cupped her jaw and brought her face up to his. She looked in his eyes, so black with that ring of yellow, and she begged that he had a change of heart. "No."

Her heart fell, and he let go of her face to shove her aside. He left, shut the door, and she heard it lock behind him. Pressure was steadily building behind her eyes, but she refused to cry. He had said that it would be five years, but if yautja days were twice as long, it might as well be ten years. She would not stay in the room for ten years, and at the moment, she did not intend to stay in it for another hour even. She was strong, and she was smart, and she just knew she could figure something out.

She began to scan the room for anything useful. She considered murdering him when he got back, but could not find any weapons. Besides, if she could not beat an unblooded punk, she doubted she would be able to kill this guy even in his sleep. She looked around, for something, anything that would give her an idea and a way out of the room.

She considered picking the lock, but doubted that with their superior technology that she would be capable of it. She examined the computer beside the door and went through the memorized motions as she had been told to before, and found FireGuardian's name in red yautja symbols. She tried to contact him, but nothing happened for a while. It was only after a few minutes that there was a signal at the door and she realized that he had come to the residence.

Liana tried to shout at him through the door, but there was no response. She figured that the door and walls were soundproof then, and had to come up with some other way of escape. Ventilations systems popped into her head then, remembering their prominence from Earth movies. Sadly, one look around the room told her that they didn't have any. The floor was heated, but the air was warm and she doubted that the heat from the floor was responsible for that. And if it was, what kept it from overheating the room? Warm air either had to enter or exit through some sort of ventilation.

She could have been wrong, and there could have been a thermometer in the walls that would turn off the floors heating if it got too hot. However, as she felt around the walls, she felt a subtle heat in one corner that told her there was a vent. She struggled to shove the dresser over to the corner, her heart frantic with the passing of each second. She had no idea when he would be back. She climbed up the dresser and began to probe at the panel on the ceiling that radiated heat.

Hoping that it was big enough to fit through, she jumped down and collected a few objects around the room to try and pry the panel off with. A jar lid bent, so she used a piece of metal she'd detached from a bathroom fixture and pried at the edges of the panel. It finally popped open and hit her in the head on the way down, but she payed no attention to it. Her lips curved down in a frown though, realizing that the vent went straight up a ways before turning to the side. How was she supposed to get up in there?

She climbed down and ran to the bathroom, looking for any sort of things that she might be able to use as a stake and puncture the side of the metal vent to pull herself up. She broke some short pipes in the bathroom, water gushing out for a second before stopping and she knew that she was going to get beat for this. Liana got back up on the dresser, and it took her a few tries to jump up and jab the broken end of the pipe into the side.

It took even longer to do it again once the pipe slipped right back out of the hole she'd made. But once she was able to haul herself up, her other hand jabed the vent up higher, and she began to climb up. Once the vent turned, she began to crawl her way through the passages, but kept the pieces of pipe on her incase she needed them later. The vents where just barely too small for her to lie flat in, and she had to have her hips and shoulders at a diagonal, but she managed to squeeze through them and navigate her way to escape.

She was sweating, her eyes burning from the dry heat of the vent by the time she made it to the vent in De'aro's room. She was glad they were on the same level of the house, or the task may have been impossible. She stared down into the corner of the room, trying to make sure it was the right one, and then she began to try and figure out how to get into the room. Like her captors room, the vent went up before turning, which meant she was positioned above the vent and looking down. If her feet her headed towards the vent, all would have been easy. However, the shafts were too narrow to turn around and so she would be heading face-first to the ground.

Even though she was desperate to see him again, she really didn't want to do that. She backtracked, and at a junction she turned and then made sure her feet were ahead of her. Liana shimmied backwards on her stomach, again trying to find the vent down to his she found it, she let her legs dangle down the shaft and then she let herself drop. Her feet hit the vent cover, but it quickly gave way under the impact.

She probably would have looked pretty cool, escaping, and then dropping down from the ceiling into his room, but her ankle hit and she fell over to the side with a thud. She sat up on her arms, eyes searching him out, but the room was empty. She tried not to let the disappointment get to her, and tested out how badly she'd landed on her ankle. There was pain, but she could stand and put her weight on it.

Liana crawled into his bed, seeking out his scent on the furs, but they smelled freshly washed instead. She tried not to let the disappointment in that gnaw at her. She knew she would be safe in his room, as her captor would not venture into anothers bedroom uninvited. There was no alarm or anything, yet she knew he was one who played by the rules. Thus, not having slept in a bed for months on end, she quickly fell asleep and waited for De'aro.

She woke up to a beeping at the door, and with the room lights so dim she knew it was nighttime. She went over to the door, already knowing who it was, but clicked on the computer beside the frame like she had been shown and a screen showed who was on the other side. Her stomach churned as her fears were confirmed. It was not De'aro but her captor instead.

She went back to the bed, and tried to get more sleep, knowing that if De'aro had not returned yet, that he was probably out on another hunt. She had no idea where he was or when he'd be back. She stayed confined in his room, drinking the sink water, until she began to starve. Night after night she slept in his bed waiting, yet he did not come. She had to leave. She had to get food.

Liana tried the vents again, but found that somehow they were closed off. He knew she would use the vents again and had made someone turn them off, or at least De'aro's room one off. She hadn't noticed the temperature drop much, as being so hungry always made her feel tired and cold. Eventually, she got up and moved to the door. She would have to escape again, but if she wasn't able and De'aro came back before she did, he would find her smell all over his bed.

She prepared to run for it, into someone elses room if not to the kitchen, but as soon as she opened the door, the yautja with the black and yellow eyes was out there waiting for her. There would be no running, no escaping him. He had the giant hound at his side too, just in case she tried. Instead, she walked right up to him and bowed. He grabbed her short red-brown hair and marched her right back into his room.

Once there, he thrust her into the bathroom and gave the hound a command. All she could do was curl into a fetal position and cover her head, as she had tried to fight off the hound many times before and lost. The more she fought it, the harder it gouged and bit her. So instead, she cowered and just endured the punishment. When he was satisfied with how much of her blood was on the floor, he called off the hunting hound.

He had to return her eventually, as some of the wounds were deep enough they'd leave scars. It was easier to heal her right then opposed to getting rid of scars later, so he brought out the gel and smeared it over her skin.

She escaped again, this time going under the floor. She remembered at the club how the panels had lifted to clean up her spill, and so carried water into the bedroom and splashed it onto the floor. She waited, and when the panel lifted she thrust her arm between the lifted panel to keep it from closing. Liana worried that she would lose her arm, but the mechanics of it seemed to sense that something was blocking it. With that little strength she had left, she pried up the floor more and slipped under the panel.

Before she could get a good look around, the panel closed and she was in complete darkness. The space was small, and she had to crouch as she moved along, just bumping into things. She tried to go far enough in any direction that she would be out of the room, and then she began to lift her hands up to the floor panels to push them up so she could get out. The heavy weight of them did not budge at all.

Desperately trying not to panic, she continued to push at them. Her fears of dying under the floor of the house forced her muscles to work their hardest. She felt claustrophobic, and felt as though she was running out of oxygen. Instead of pushing up at the flat panels above her, she began to blindly shove at the machery she kept bumping into with a savage panic.

An elbow-like joint moved as she pushed, and a seam of light appeared above her. She shoved on the metal until the panel was lifted and then she crawled out from under the floor. She was in a bathroom. If anyone had seen her, they would have been questioning their own sanity. Luckily though, she was alone.

She peeked out into the bedroom, finding it empty. She peeked out into the hallways then, and found them empty as well. She took off running into the hall, racing to find De'aro's room before anyone found her. She didn't see anyone the whole way there, thrust open his door, and collapsed inside. She lifted her head, already sensing that the room was empty.

Liana dared to hope, and ventured into the bathroom, but it was empty too. She caught her breath and then ran to the kitchen, stealing all the food she could carry, and then went back again and again until the yautja chased her off when she returned. She made it back to De'aro's room and put the food in a drawer. She would stay in his room for as long as she could, rationing herself, until he came back.

She crawled up into his bed, and found that his smell was still not on the furs. Her eyes looked about the room, noticing the subtle details that had changed since she had seen the room last and knew that he had been in the room. Apparently though, he had not stayed long enough to sleep in the bed.

His sense of smell was much keener than hers, and she knew that he had to have picked up her smell in his bed from the last time she had escaped. So why hadn't he stayed? Where did he go? On another hunt? She could understand the hunting. It was what a male yautja did; it was their way of life. He could hunt to distract his thoughts from her as well, as she knew he would be distraught about her predicament. However, she didn't know why he hadn't stayed to see her. Had he not thought she'd be able to escape again?

Liana tried to push the thoughts from her mind, and instead tried to sleep. Though the hard floor of the bathroom was a better nights rest then the cage, nothing compared to soft fur-topped bed, and she quickly drifted off into her dreams.


	32. Chapter 32

It had been months since her last escape, and she was out of ideas. The yautja that owned her kept a careful eye on her now, had secured the vents and installed better sensors on the floors. Now when she made a spill, it would not clean it up until she was far away. She had tried to back up until it moved, and attempted to run and dive for the lifted floor panel, but it was faster than she was. It closed on her and would not finish cleaning until she backed up again. It was no use. And one thing was for sure, De'aro was not coming to her rescue.

When he snapped a metal collar around her neck and attached a chain to it, she stood still and did not ask what it was for. Even as he walked her out the door of the bedroom, she did not ask what they were doing. He had never taken outside the confines of his room before. She thought maybe he would take her with him to go meet that female again. Instead, she found herself led to the dining room.

His fingers nudged her face up so she would look around the room instead of at the floor. Her eyes quickly settled on De'aro and her heart leapt in her chest. She didn't know if her captor meant it to be nice, or to tease her, but she just felt happier being able to look upon him at least. She tried to commit every detail of him to memory. The exact color of those three aeneous, greenish-brass colored, metal rings around his neck. The exact pattern of the small spikes on his shoulders, and the patch between his pecs.

His yellow-orange amber eyes were locked onto hers, but as soon as she was pulled forward by the chains on her collar, he got up from the table and turned his back to her. She felt something dying inside her chest as she watched him go. She sat down on her knees at the table and almost yelled after him. Her throat was already too tight to speak though as she fought back tears. She felt forgotten.

Months would pass where she would not even see De'aro. Her master took her around the house often enough now, and she barely caught glimpses of him. Word of him through Acc'ora said that he was a bloodthirsty hunter now, and had picked up a nickname. Lar'ja-bhu'ja meant DarkSoul in yautja, and that was what some had started calling him. Acc'ora seemed please with how well he was doing, showing the promise and focus that he had when he passed his chiva.

It had been two full Earth years since the iguana had found its way into the trophy room and busted that skull. When they headed back to the room, De'aro stood in front of her, blocking the entire hallway with a massive trophy he dragged with him. It was the same kind of skull he had shown her in that room alone, a queen xenomorph skull. Her master stood at her side. Liana's light bluish-grey eyes stared at the skull with a coldness in her heart that had never been there before.

De'aro set the skull down carefully, and spoke in English, "Liana will you be my lifemate?"

She quickly talked back to him in yautja, having learned the language in his absence, "Do not engage me using that dirty language."

He stared at her a moment, and then stammered in yautja, "Did you hear me?"

"No."

"I just proposed to you."

She was silent for a moment, and then said only, "Oh."

"Do you accept? Will you be my mate?" He asked eagerly.

Her gaze fell to the floor and her master quickly jumped in, "She has been beaten into submission. She will listen to any command I give her." He pulled a blade out from a holster on his hip and handed it to her palm, "Stab this through your arm."

Liana gripped the handle and did not hesitate to slide the blade into her forearm, right between the two bones. She merely winced at the pain, and then glanced up at De'aro, still loving those amber eyes of his. She didn't remove the blade, knowing that it would began to gush with blood and it was currently only swelling around the blade and trickling to the floor.

De'aro looked horrified, mandibles going slack, and she offered up the only excuse she could come up with, "You abandoned me."

"Only to hunt, only to free you. I still love you. Be my mate."

Her master intervened, "You were too soft with her. She is strong yet obedient now." His eyes went to Liana then and he said, "Tell him no, and then you will still get to keep the skull, as is custom."

With a confident voice she said, "No."

Her master stepped forward, passing De'aro to get a look at the skull, brushing his palm across its smooth and polished white surface.

"Does not count!" De'aro yelled, stepping closer to Liana. "Does not count, she did not say no to the question. She simply said the word no as you told her to."

Her master was annoyed with the details, "Tell him you reject."

"I reject." Liana stated.

"No! Still does not count!" De'aro was right in front of Liana now, his hands hovering to touch her, and he said, "She did not say what she rejects. Could be rejecting you. She must say it in full sentence, look at me in the eyes, and say she does not want to be my mate."

She struggled to keep looking in his eyes, and whispered to him, "De'aro, you are making things difficult." Her fingers flexed, still trying to combat the pain in her arm from the blade.

Her master commanded her again, "Get it over with already, you heard him. Tell him ever so clearly that you reject his proposal."

To turn him down a third time proved to be impossible, the ache in her chest too great. She had already managed to say no and I reject, and those were hard enough as it was. "...If I told you that I think I love you, would you believe me?"

De'aro purred, remembering those words from when they had been on Earth. Her masters head snapped in her direction with a snarl, and he jerked his hands off the skull.

"I accept your proposal."

She expected an embrace or a kiss, but De'aro backed away from her and turned to the other yautja, "She is no longer your property!" With one powerful blow to the face, he sent the man to the floor.

Then, he turned back to her and his strong arms wrapped around her back, pulling her body against his. His face nuzzled into her neck as he inhaled her scent, and she resisted the urge to shove him away, resentment still filling her mind. She didn't realize she had started crying until she felt a warm line of moisture make its way down her cheek. De'aro's arms shifted and before she knew what he was doing she was hauled up in the air, and he carried her to the medical room. He left the other yautja and the skull behind to heal her.

He set her down on the table, and retrieved the healing cream. With one hand, he slowly withdrew the blade as the other quickly applied the opaque gel to her wound. It hardly bled, and then quickly healed before their eyes. She watched the chords in his neck draw tight and then he snapped the blade in his hand, without even cutting himself. He angrily threw the pieces on the ground. Black claws reached up to her neck then, fingers curling under the metal collar and his muscles flexed as he tore the metal into two halves. Angrily, he discarded the pieces to the floor with a clang.

His eyes washed over her body, no doubt finding her thinner than before. Firmly, but without hurting her, he pulled her forearm to get her to slide off the table and onto her feet. He led her through the ornate and decorated hallways to the dining room. He sat down in one of the large chairs and she folded herself on her knees on the floor beside him. He growled and quickly yanked her up.

"You are not pet, are not clan property. You are my mate, equal, and you sit at the table."

A vague recognition of this washed over her, and she sat down in the chair as a servant came into the room and asked for their orders. De'aro said he was not hungry, but prompted Liana to eat. Though she knew the language, specific names of things unique to their culture she still did not know. Names of different meats and dishes were lost to her.

"Just anything." She said, only to have De'aro order various things for her anyway.

Small portions of different meats, slices of fruit, bowls of soup, vegetables, and more were all laid out before her. She reached for the meat first, using her fingers to shove the pieces into her mouth. It tasted so rich, and full of flavor. She was not used to such high quality meat anymore and she gulped the different types and colors of meat down greedily, until De'aro placed his hand on her arm.

"Slow."

She glanced at him, realizing that she'd taken up the habit of eating quickly, before the hound got to it or her master took the food away. Liana resisted the urge to swallow down what she had in her mouth already, and proceeded to chew and savor it more. She ate everything that had been laid out before her, even drinking down the broth to the soup, but her stomach being so stretched made her feel sick.

As she stood from the table, she felt her stomach churn and tighten. She locked her teeth together, fighting off the response to puke. She took a step forward and stopped, feeling her stomach putting up a fight, feeling the contents of it wanting to push back up the way it had came. Her eyes lifted to look up at De'aro. He was watching her with concern, his mandibles slowly moving, not looking like he knew what was wrong with her. She quickly put her hand infront of her mouth to stop herself, but just ended up wrecking all over her palm and the floor at her feet.

She wasn't used to consuming that much food at a sitting, and she had shocked her system by stretching out her stomach so much, so suddenly. She felt embarrassed and miserable. De'aro stepped around the puke to lift her up into his arms, and he carried her to his bathroom. She stood there, and let him undress her. Then, he turned on the shower and wiped at her face to clean her off. When she was clean, he dried her off and dressed her. Then, there was a buzz at the door.

De'aro let out an annoyed growl, but went to go see who it was. Liana followed after him, curious. She watched a tall male yautja invited into the room, who had much lighter colored blotching on his body than most. She recognized him as the clan leader. Out of everyone that she expected to come see her, Acc'ora was first on the list, but the second guest that entered the room was actually Ka-dro-ka. In just two years he'd gained inches to his height, and pounds of muscle to his body. She knew that his status had to have moved up to a youngblood by now, if not Blooded.

On instinct, she avoided their eyes and bowed. Rough hands jerked her shoulders up and she found De'aro staring at her intently, his grip on her shoulder so tight it was almost painful. She waited for punishment from him, unsure of what she had done.

"Not their property, not any more. Do not bow!"

He sounded so angry with her, it was her instant reaction to apologize, "Sorry Master."

His hand jerked away from her shoulder as he took a step away from her, "Do not call me that. Ever."

She would not meet his eyes now either, but she could feel him watching her.

He turned and dismissed his guests, "Leave us." They turned and left without a word, and De'aro and her were alone in the room together.

He was silent for a long time, and then he grabbed her wrist to pull her out into the hall with him. It wasn't until he ushered her into his ship that she began to wonder what was going on. He sat in a chair in front of the holograms, hastily clicking and manipulating the ships controls. They left the house, left the planet, and the screen of the ship was black, without even stars zipping by.

She knew that she could question him without getting a beating, "Where are we going?"

"First habitable planet. Won't have you be around anyone until your head has cleared."

She crossed her arms in front of her chest shamefully, his words making her feel like some sort of mental patient. It was a boring ride there, and she found herself watching him fiddle with the ships diagnostics, contacting Ak-an'atan to tell him to put the skull he'd left in the hallway into his room, and then she watched him scrutinize each upcoming planet. He passed many, finding them unsuitable. In her boredom, she grew tired, and wandered away from him.

Liana rolled into bed, pulling furs up around her, but felt them tugged right back off of her. De'aro had silently followed after her. Confused for a moment, she thought maybe he was objecting that she sleep in his bed but then her worries were cleared away. He climbed in beside her, cradling her up against him with an arm behind her back. She felt safe in his arms, and let her head rest in the crook of his arm.

Still, she felt off, that she had grown meak, and no longer herself. De'aro had been right to say she needed to clear her head. Though it warmed her heart to lay next to him again, she felt sort of distant to him, as though they were pieces of a puzzle that no longer held the right shape to fit together snugly. It just did not feel the same as before. Liana found herself looking at him, wondering why. Her eyes found only the scars on his skin, the deep puckering lines and misshapen indents, and no answer to her question.


	33. Chapter 33

De'aro was asleep on his back beside her, but she had woken up sometime during the night to a grumbling stomach. Slowly, stealthily, she watched his breathing and inched away from him every minute or so. She did not want to wake him and have him get up to try and feed her, as she was capable of doing such things on her own. With her toes finally on the ground, she slipped out of bed. She'd learned how to keep her footsteps light, her movements silent because if she went to the bathroom and woke her master, he would beat her.

Liana hovered in front of the pantry, stuffing her mouth with wherever she found first. Without De'aro watching her, she did not bother to slow down but she made sure to stop eating while she was still a bit hungry, making sure not to eat too much again. Sated, she headed back to bed. The ships screen caught her attention though, and she froze in front of it. Her eyes looked into the dark forest beyond the ship.

It looked gorgeous. It reminded her of the woods back at her house on Earth, with its thick older trees, little brush, and the ominous way the moonlight filtered through the trees. For two years, she had not left the house. For two years she had not had a breath of fresh air. When she had been on Earth, a walk through the forest had always calmed her. She felt she needed that release now.

The smart thing to do would have been to wake De'aro and ask him to take her into the woods, as she knew he would not say no. Instead, she snuck into his weapon room and began surveying the walls. She debated for a minute, and then her fingers curled around his combi stick. She got it down from the hanger and pushed the lever on the handle so it would extend. She winced with the sound of it even though she knew that the ship was well insulated. The thing was enormous though, way too long for her to wield successfully.

The plasma caster was way too powerful for her to run around using, and the laser nets would be hell to try and use in a forest. More than likely, trying to throw his smartdisc or shuriken would only get her own head cut off. The whip as well, she did not know how to use. His glaive held her interest though, as it had tiny skulls tied to the ends of it before the blades, and was shorter than his combi stick. It looked like a more primitive, but very useable, weapon.

She grabbed his double ended glaive off the wall, feeling its light weight in her palm, and then strapped his net gun onto her hip. They did not give her the same comfort that her Glock 20 would have, but they would have to do. Liana dropped the ships ramp, her eyes squinting shut at the sound it made, and stood at the door looking into the forest. She knew fully well that stepping off his ship into an alien forest was a terrible idea, yet she did not give a shit. The wind blew through her hair, livening her scenes with the earthy smell of the forest it carried with it.

Liana stepped down the ramp, reveling in the feel of the moist earth under her bare feet. Once she reached the tree line, stepping away from the clearing that the ship was nestled in, she heard the ramp close. She glanced behind her then, seeing nothing but dark open space, as the ship was still cloaked. She continued into the forest anyway, wanting to feel the rush. Like riding a motorcycle, hang gliding, or cliff diving, she wanted to feel alive. She wanted to venture out into the forest and encounter something.

Her curiosities got the best of her, and she found herself examining every little detail in the dark. She placed her fingers on the rough bark of the trees, finding that is was actually less like bark than she had first perceived. Instead of hard outward growth, the grooved trunk of the tree seemed a result of its surface folding in on itself, like a drying out cactus.

When she came to a small, shallow stream she hopped across the winding path of raised rocks only to reach the other side and slip. Her foot and one end of the glaive dipped into the cold water, but at least now she was glad she wasn't wearing shoes. They would have been soaked and irritating. Liana stepped through the bed of small white wildflowers that lined the bank, but as they brushed up against her foot the flowers disappeared.

Intrigued, she crouched to see if the flowers had closed at her touch. Though it was difficult to see in the dark, it appeared that the petals had became transparent, not simply closed shut. Determined to find out why and how, she dipped the end of the glaive into the stream and watched the water drip down onto the flowers. Only the foot that had slipped into the water had disappearing flowers around it, so she had to guess that the water played a part. As each drop of water landed, it reacted with the flower and caused the white petals to change to clear.

The dry crunch of dead leaves brought her attention back on the forest, and her head jerked up to the darkness around her. Her eyes sought out any movement. She scanned the trees and gripped the glaive tighter, feeling the sweat from her palm collecting there. Nothing moved, yet she knew very well that it had not been the wind that produced the sound. Something was out there, and she bravely walked forward to find out what.

She tried to keep her footsteps quiet and graceful as to not spook whatever animal lurked in the dark. On an alien planet she had no information of, she didn't know what kind of animal to expect, but she wanted to see it. From the sound she had heard, she hadn't been able to tell how close it was, and so she slowly continued forward. The trees were old and the trunks were thick. Three humans arms lengths would not be able to wrap around one of the trees girth, and that made a lot to hide behind.

Finally, her eyes caught a shimmer of movement, but it was not on the ground. She lifted her eyes to the lowest branch on a tree far ahead of her. She could see movement, but could not find a shape to it, as though it was cloaked, invisible. Liana wondered if it was De'aro, wondered if he had woken up and tracked her down. She inched closer, causing it to move again, looking like a ghost up on the branch.

When the wind blew, moving the thin branches in the canopy, the pale moonlight finally lit up its eyes. For a second, she caught a glimpse of its mercury colored irises. They reflected like a mirror, the color surrounding side-by-side double cat-slit pupils inside almond shaped lids. Her footsteps came to a direct hault. All her concentration focused on breathing.

She brought the glave up into a defensive pose, both hands on its metal pole now, ready for an attack. Though she could not tell the exact size or shape of the animal, the fact that it had double pupils in each eye fascinated her. Dangerous or not, she wanted to see more of it, wanted to find out what it was. She gulped down the pooling saliva in her mouth and took small steps towards the tree it was perched in.

When she was about twenty feet away, a strange noise rose up into the air, sounding like the deep guttural bellows a gator could make. She took the noise as a warning growl, and that stopped her in her tracks. Her eyes never left the branch, fearing that if the animal moved she would lose sight of it completely. However, she must have really angered the animal, as it suddenly shifted its stance. She heard sharp nails scratch against the tree before it landed with a thud on the forest floor.

Her heart was racing, but she stood her ground and watched the shimmer of its body begin to walk towards her. Moonlight filtered through the leaves of the trees, but also shined down brighter with the gaps in the canopy. When the animal stepped into a patch of slightly brighter light, Liana could tell that the animal was not in fact invisible, but simply so dark in color that it appeared so.

It had the body of a large cat, with thick indigo fur covering the entirety of its body. Between those glowing mercury eyes, a short one-inch crest of bone started from its nose to the top of its head. It possessed a small spike of bone above each eye, situated more towards the center of its face, but radiating outwards slightly. Its paws were strangely round in shape, with toes around all edges, not just the five you would expect in the front. It bellowed deeply again, exposing its glossy-black set of sharp teeth.

It looked majestic. It looked deadly. The animal stopped in the patch of dim light, staring her down. Its head was lowered, its neck protected, and its body ready to fight. A knot of fear drew tight in her stomach as she waited for the animal to decide whether she was a threat, or prey. She suddenly felt inadequate, without armor, having lost so much weight and then gripping such a simple weapon: a stick with sharp metal at the end.

She admired such an imposing animal though, and a sense of calm began to take her. She did not want to look like prey, but even more than that, she did not want to look like a threat and scare the animal away. Still securely holding the glaive poised in front of her, she slowly began to bend her knees to lower her height. Liana crouched down, ready to spring back up if absolutely necessary, but tried to look nonthreatening. The animals indigo fur shimmered as it moved forward, but as Liana did not budge, it movements slowed.

It seemed to consider her for a moment, and then every so slowly its shoulders became less hunched and its hind quarters lowered to sit in front of Liana. They were about ten feet away but with an animal that had to weigh around three hundred pounds, that looked roughly the size of a tiger, she felt that it was much closer than that. She watched its chest expand and deflate with each deep breath as it watched her. As a wind blew through the trees at her back, the cat-alien eagerly raised its nose to the air, no doubt getting a good whiff of her scent.

Just as she had done with the bears on Earth, she did not dare to approach it, lest it attack and she have to shamefully kill it. Instead, she would watch it, study it, and appreciate it from a distance. Eventually, just like every bear had in her past, she knew it would get bored of her and move on. Until then, she was happy to let her mind crank out theories about the animal.

With it facing her and in a sitting position, she could not derive its sex, but something about it made her assume it was a female. With the double pupils, it had to see things in a slightly different view then she did. Coupled with its dark fur and the way the color reflected with the light told her that it was a nocturnal predator, and able to see in the dark. It was obviously a good climber, and with so many toes she wondered if it had opposable digits. Though it had a cat-like body, it lacked any tail whatsoever. Liana's mind wondered what that did for its balance and ability to turn quickly. It lacked ears as well.

She was not done with her observations before the cat stood back up, and Liana cocked her head to the side, sort of sullen that the cat grew bored of her so quickly. However, the cat did not turn around, nor did it head to the side to walk around her. Instead, the animal began to take slow deliberate steps directly towards her. The unblinking eyes of the animal had her nervous, yet it did not charge at her. If she were prey to it, it should have ran after her, should have pounced.

It closed the gap between them, walking out of the beam of moonlight and back into the darker shadows in front of her, its indigo fur providing perfect camouflage. Liana tilted one blade of the glaive level with its chest, hoping that the animal would stop before the blade. It did stop, but only to turn its head and sniff the sharp and shiny metal curiously. Her mouth slowly fell open as she watched the cat instantaneously grow whiskers. They were not the traditional sort of stiff whiskers like a cats, but instead were very thin, pink, and wiggly like streamers caught in a breeze.

Liana stood there, gawking, unsure if what she was seeing was real. The animal moved to the side of her some, still smelling the glaive, moving beside her to smell its way up the ornate staff she held in her hand. It seemed much more interested in whatever smell was coming off the glaive than her, and she wondered if it was the animal skulls, the leather that tied the skulls on, the metal itself, or yautja smell that it was pursuing. Either way, she was frozen where she stood, fear permeating her as the cats mouth neared her hand.

Her grip on the glaive was shaking now as she felt the hot breath of the cat on her hand where she gripped the weapon. As the cat continued to seem merely curious, Liana began to feel compelled to touch it. It was right beside her, and all she would have to do is slowly reach her other arm across and lean in a little to brush her fingers across its rich indio fur. She did not want to provoke an aggressive response, but she slowly began to twist and reach out to the cat, her eyes on its eyes for any indication of hostility.

As she reached over, pressing her palm towards the cat, she should have felt soft fur but found the sensation light and ticklish, and feeling slightly sticky. Her gaze switched from the cats face to her own hand and she stilled, seeing the same whiskers she'd seen before growing out of the cats side like a weed.

They had to be some sort of stimuli receptors, though for exactly what she did not know. The thin pink strands raised up to her hand like static, waving towards her skin with the sweeping movements she made down its back, even though she had not touched the animals fur yet. They rose up above its pelt, growing from its skin anywhere her hand moved to touch. They had a slightly sticky feel to them, but tickled like a soft bird feather. She was in awe of it, truly amazed.

She felt heat by her leg and quickly glanced down to see the cats attention had switched from the weapon to her, and its jaws slowly opened with its teeth aimed at her calf. Liana stumbled back a few feet, shoving the handle of the glaive between her and the cat, but kept the blade at the end scraping the ground, unwilling to harm the animal. At seeing her retreat, the cat pressed closer, its paw swiping at the weapon in its way carelessly, jerking it to the side. Her heartbeat was thundering in her chest though she fought to keep herself calm.

The animal had not attempted to harm her yet, and had only seemed curious if not suddenly a bit playful. She felt the need to distance herself from it lest it have a bad temper, but did not feel the need to strike at it. As the continued to back away though, the alien cat seemed only more intent to press closer.


	34. Chapter 34

The alien feline suddenly grabbed the middle of the glaive between its teeth and yanked with enough force to rip it from her hand. Then it bounced away playfully and ran with it through the trees until the darkness made it invisible, except for the weapon that was still in its mouth. The glaive was lowered and set on the ground about twenty feet away, and then the cat began to walk to her. Liana watched the shimmer from its glossy hair as it moved closer. Her hand hovered on the net gun at her belt.

Before the cat had reached her, there was a quick blur of movement and a thick metal pole imbedded itself into the cats side, throwing off its balance for a moment. The cat let out a terrible, high-pitched shriek like a squealing pig, but then its mouth pulled out the metal like it was a toothpick and dropped it to the ground. It was a combi stick. Liana's head whirled in the direction the spear had come, spotting De'aro. He was dressed up in the netting, armor, and mask, his stance looking angry.

She had not been watching the cat, but was quickly reminded of its presence by the weight that hit her chest. Liana toppled over, her head cushioned by the soft ground and dead leaves. Her hands shot up by instinct, shoving at the enormous chest of the cat that hovered over her, her fingers in its soft fur. Its head tilted to the side and its mouth closed around her throat. She panicked and kicked under it, yet its teeth did not puncture her neck.

Its jaws locked around her throat, the cat began to drag her away like a fresh kill, building up momentum and speed as it went. Liana barely caught a glimpse of the smartdisc that was headed towards them before the cat crushed its weight on top of her, dropping to avoid the blade just as it slid over its fur. It had not been facing the blade to see it coming, and yet some how it had detected it. Liana realized as well, that even though the combi stick had pierced its side, it did not bleed.

The cat lifted off of her, giving her some chance of breathing, but still intended to drag her off. An enraged and booming roar pulsed through the air, making her body still and her heart race. When the cat shifted at hearing the sound, turning around some to see who was challenging it, Liana could see De'aro. He had his head tilted back some, like a wolf howling at the moon, and his arms were outstretched in a blatant 'bring it on' gesture.

The alien dropped its hold on her neck and turned fully to face its challenger. She watched as long, thin spines bristled up from the fur on its back, and then it reared up on its hind legs like a bear. The cat let out its own roar, sounding like some sort of dragon or dinosaur, and its front paws scratched at the empty air in an attempt to look intimidating. De'aro did not look impressed.

He ran forward with a leap, intending to plunge the combi stick into the cat, but the alien moved out of the way. It was less of a fight, and more of a dance between these two. They were constantly moving: back and forth, left and right to dodge and deliver blows. De'aro was savagely determined to kill the animal, while the cat seemed more interested in merely wearing him out. Still, when an opportunity presented itself, the cat would strike.

Swipes of its paws left gouges, but did not tear the netting he wore. Its teeth sliced into his muscles, but did not seem to debilitate him, and he was quick to recover when the cat knocked him down. The cat was just as focus as he was, and crashing blows to its face and paws did not break bone. Every time he plunged his combi stick into its body, it never bled.

Liana watched in horror as they both went for a lethal blow to end the fight. De'aro raised his combi stick, but the cat still charged and leapt at him. He would not dodge the blow, but kept his aim perfect and his hands firm on the metal. The cat impaled itself on the weapon, knocking De'aro to the ground in the process and pinning him there. To her amazement, the cat did not die.

Its head had a short crest of bone that stood up from its nose to the top of its head like an ax, and it used it like a weapon now. The cat forcefully headbutted De'aro. An action that was useless with the hard metal mask he wore, was now now an effective blow. The cats sharp crest of bone went right through the metal bio mask, and the sound of it make Liana cringe. He lifted his arms and threw the impaled cat to the side, retracting his combi stick so that he would not lose it to the cat.

It would have been an excellent time to strike the cat as it regained its footing, but he had to get the broken mask off of him first. By that time, they were both on their feet and staring each other down. De'aro had discarded his mask on the ground, leaving his head more vulnerable. The next time the cat landed a blow like that, it would be going through his skull, and not the mask.

She was worried about De'aro, but worried about the animal as well. It would be such a shame to kill such a magnificent beast, especially as it hadn't even harmed her. It was all De'aro's fault for attacking it, and it might just get him killed. Determined to get in the middle of their fighting, she ran and found the glaive with the skulls tied to the ends. They were stupidly going to kill each other and she was sick of the blood and fighting.

But to charge at either of them with the glaive though, would be a stupid move. If she distracted De'aro, the cat might chose to attack rather than take the opportunity to run. If she attacked the cat, it might not see her the same as it had before and decide to kill her. Remembering the net gun at her hip, she drew it out and ran back towards the fight.

"De'aro, back away from the cat!" She barked.

He ignored her, and when she tried to get close to them, he punched the blunt end of his combi stick into her belly, moving in front of her when she tried to get to the side of him for a clear shot. If she accidentally hit De'aro, he would be trapped in the net and vulnerable, but he would not let her get involved in the fight. She tried to circle around him, and he followed in front of her. When the cat attacked he fought off its blows and then jabbed the end of his combi stick back behind him to shove Liana away.

He did not try to talk to her, saving his breath. Angry, she dropped down to the ground and quickly shot the net gun between his legs, and watched the cat tumble back and be pinned to the base of the tree by the net as it struggled. De'aro growled, but retracted his combi stick again and let his serrated blades drop from his gauntlet instead. He marched forward, intending to end the fight. Instead, Liana boldly scrambled to her feet and stood in front of the netted animal. She still held the glaive in one hand, and tipped the end of it towards him in warning when he still advanced.

He stared her down, mandibles fighting not to flex wide with anger, "Do you have a death wish?"

"You gonna kill me?" She spat.

His body bristled with anger and tension but he softened his tone, "Why would you leave the ship? Do you wish to die?"

"I just wanted some freedom. I have not felt free since you abducted me from my planet, and then it only got worse when that guy stuffed me in a cage. I simply took a walk, and was doing fine before you came along and ruined it!" With that, she shifted the blade in her grip, aimed at his heart.

Determined that nothing keep them apart ever again, not even the weapon in his mates hand, he stepped forward. Her eyes flickered down to the blade, watching as he slowly eased more pressure on it, bright green blood beginning to ooze down as it cut into his skin.

She finally jerked the blade away and hissed, "Don't do that!"

"Step aside Liana, so I can cut it free and kill it. Animal is rare, will be great trophy."

"It's rare, and so you're going to kill it? I don't think so." She firmly stabbed the bottom of the glaive into the earth to show that she was not backing down. She'd worked too hard trapping and monitoring grizzly bears only to have hunters kill them year after year. Now, she had another animal to protect, and another hunter that wanted it dead.

"Rare here, but not extinct. Takes many months just to journey to planet they're native from. Used to be brought closer for chivas, this one escaped apparently. Will kill it, raise rank."

"Is that all you care about, your rank? I _hate _you! I want to go home, back to earth."

His mandibles flexed and twitched some, though she was unable to really tell if her words affected him, "Rank was for you, to claim you."

"That's what I thought too. Held onto the belief that the hunting was to rescue me...Then I lost hope." She dropped her eyes from his, staring at the flourescent blood on his chest instead.

"Why lost hope? Love you." He trilled softly.

"Why did you leave when I saw you in the dining room? Why didnt you _tell _me you loved me then and were trying to help? Why did you merely turn your back to me? You left me..."

"Could not stand to see you thin, while I indulged. Could not stand to see you under his control. Had to go hunt immediately."

"I escaped multiple times just to see you, you know. Knew I would be beaten and faced the pain just to get to you. But you were never there."

He was silent for a minute, taking her words in and then he said, "Had to hunt." He gestured the new scars on his body.

She shook her head, holding onto her grief. Two horrible years could not simply be erased.

He stepped closer and tried to pull the weapon from her hand, but she held it so tight he gave up on that and simply held her face in his hands, "Only the xenomorph queen and you have managed to leave their mark on me, nothing else." He fondly gestured to the bullet wounds she had given him.

Some of her tension was beginning to drain away. "That's females for ya." She gave short a dry laugh and then asked, "Why don't you get rid of those, the ones I gave you...I don't like looking at them."

"Never. They stay. Is permanent mark and far after your short ooman life is over, I will have these scars to remember you, forever." He was already so close to her, but was slowly pressing closer, until the weapon she held was tightly pressed between them.

He leaned down to kiss her, but she turned her head away from him, tears welling up in her eyes. De'aro would have none of that though, and his hand roughly grabbed her chin to force her face up. She stared at his intense amber eyes for a second before his mouth pressed to hers, his mandibles rubbing softly, demanding that she kiss him back. She cried, warm tears building up and spilling over.

Her body stayed tense, her hand on the glaive, and she cried, but he would not give up on her. Instead of letting her go to give her space, time to calm down, he wrapped his strong arms around her back. Her lips trembled beneath his mandibles, but he worked his arms up and down her back and into her hair. When she still did not respond, he pressed his mouth to her a bit harder, and his hand held her neck, showing a sort of sensual aggression. His tongue flicked across her lips, not yet wanting entrance, but wanting to tease her.

She was letting herself forget, and at the same time letting herself remember. To forget the pain of being beaten, and remember when she had first seen De'aro and had felt compelled to draw him. To forget how starved she had been, and remember the first time De'aro had purred to her when she'd cried over the bear cub. To forget the filth on her skin, and remember how he had fed her the orange slices.

She had missed him so much, and then hated him so much she had forgotten that she had fallen in love with him. The feeling was still there, yet buried inside her. Finally smelling that masculine musk around her again, the heat of his skin, and the taste of his tongue, she felt it all coming back to her. Liana felt the glaive drop to their feet as her hands began to slide up his chest to drape around his neck.

She remembered when she had given him the powdered pepper, his reaction, and how he had accused her of poisoning him. She remembered getting him drunk and how he had begun to touch himself and then gave her the rabbit skull. He had blatantly stuck his hand down her pants at one point, just to get her to leave him alone, and another time before that he had undressed and wiggled his man bits out the cage bars to freak her out. Her hands tightened around his neck, pressing her chest up against him as she remembered his insistence on her lotioning his dreads. She even remembered his vicious behavior around bacon and…

Liana was completely out of breath, and his mouth lifted off of hers, but she was unwilling to let him get more than an inch away from her. He purred lightly as she drew in deep breaths, and his hand went to her cheek, stroking her skin with his thumb. She leaned her face into his palm, loving the warmth coming off of it...And she remembered how affectionate he could be, and then yet so naughty.

A silly giggle escaped her suddenly and she said, "I _still _can't believe you threw your shit at me."

He sharply turned his head away, "Not happen."

"You can't deny it! You know what you did! You threw it right on my plate too!" The grin on her lips hardly fit on her face.

De'aro let out a growl, playful, yet willing her to drop the conversation. He'd thrown food at her, feces, dumped water on her head. He'd left bruises and gauges in her arm deep enough to warrant stitches. He'd tried to hunt her, had tried to kill her once he was captured, and then had punished her once he escaped. It was not a proper way to court someone, yet she had fallen for him all the same. It was impossible, and yet unmistakably real.

Her fingers sought out a strand of his thick hair, and began to stroke and bend the strand, prompting him for another kiss. A strange gurgling noise from behind her distracted them both though. She tugged out of his grip to turn around and look at the alien cat. It was on its side, head resting on the ground but its limbs stretched out as far as they could against the net. It had stopped struggling, but still looked tense and angry.

She felt De'aro's claws brush across her scalp into her hair tenderly, and then he asked, "What you want me to do with it?"

"Let it go, it's suffering."

"Very valuable prey...Better to capture and sell it. You won't have to see it die."

Her body went rigid, "That's not the point...You said it was taken from its native planet, right? So can't we just take it back?"

De'aro let out an exhale, and said, "Waste time and money just to return it? Animals are brought from the planet, not returned."

He was sounding like FireGuardian, like her requests were ridiculous. Liana pushed for what she wanted, "Why not? When we get there, if their populations are good then you can hunt one of them on the planet already. This one has probably been through enough already."

"Takes months to get there, be feeding it, keeping it contained just to let it go and kill a different one? I just let it go here."

She would have said yes to that, but now she was set on a different path, "It is probably alone here."

"Not alone, has prey." He insisted.

"But it probably doesn't have a mate." De'aro's mandibles flared some, and she was well aware that caring about prey, neverless if the prey were happy and had mates, was just not something anyone did. "Can't we just bring it back to its native planet? Or bring it back a mate? Can't we do something?"

De'aro was silent, and she was beginning to worry that he would say no to her, but instead he asked, "Bring it a mate?"

"I know, I know. It's ridiculous and you'd still have to feed that one for months...I just...feel bad."

De'aro grabbed her around the waist, holding her back to his chest, "Will bring it mate...Hunt pups of those pups. Have prey close to home, sell a few, make this planet into a preserve. You keep watch, make sure they healthy, and I protect."

Her voice got slightly high-pitched with the excitement, "A preserve?"

"Yes if you want it."

Liana turned in his grip and threw her arms up around his neck. He purred at her excitement and then lifted her up in his arms to take her back to the ship. There, he found a sedative that he could use on the cat so he could safely release it. He injected the animal, its double-pupiled eyes angrily shifting up to stare at him, but it quickly fell asleep. As Liana watched, he removed the netting from its body and then checked its sex. She had been right, it was a female. Now, all they had to do was make the long journey to its native planet, and abduct it a mate...and maybe a few friends too.


	35. Chapter 35

They would have to go back to his planet to get the necessary supplies and stock the ship, but De'aro seemed to have something else in mind first. She was steered back into the bedroom. He grabbed her forearm and spun her to face him, and then his claws grabbed at her waist with a rumble. His fingers found the hem of her soft leather shirt, and his hands slid up under the fabric, bringing the shirt up with him. His cupped her breasts, lightly palming them as his eyes greedily took her in.

He yanked the fabric over her head as she lifted her arms, and then his hands went to her neck, trailing down. She loved the feel of his big rough hands over her, sliding down her neck, across her shoulders soothingly, and then to her breasts and hips. At her hips then, his fingers played with the top of her loincloth, teasing her before hooking his thumbs in and pulling them down. She stepped out of the cloth at her feet and shoved it away. His hands slid around to her ass, grabbing at them greedily, and then he lifted her up by them and held her against his body.

She let her hands slip around his neck, his soft dreads sliding across her arms. There was no point to tilting her head to kiss him, as there was no nose to avoid, so she merely leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. His mandibles swept across her lips, his tusks tickling her with their light touch before they spread open. Maintaining contact with her skin, they stretched over her cheeks, feeling like fingers on her, passionately keeping her face in place as they kissed.

As she felt his jaw drop, she instantly slipped her tongue into his mouth, teasing him as she had with her. She swept her tongue up at the roof of his mouth, feeling the strange pattern of ridges, and enjoying the taste of him. She wondered if she tasted as strange to him as he did to her. His mouth held a slight odd taste to it, but his tongue on the other hand, had a taste of spices. It was unique and stimulating.

He let out an airy grumble when his tongue plunged into her mouth, and his arms around her tightened. His tongue was not gentle. He took what he wanted and lapped up the taste of her with fervor. She'd locked her legs around his hips, and as he walked to the bed she stayed latched onto him as they fell into the bed with a slight bounce. He pressed his chest down on her some, showing that dominance, and let out a lusty rumble.

She always had to catch her breath before he did, but she did not mind that. He took the opportunity to tease her body more, his mouth going to her perky nipples. He gave them each equal attention, licking, nibbling, and sucking at them until her chest began to rise off the bed with his delicious torture. His nails scrated down her body carefully, making sure not to leave marks, and making her shiver. Her skin ignited with fireworks everywhere his fingers went.

His eyes dark and dangerously filled with lust as his hand tugged off his own cloth covering and discarded it to the floor. De'aro lowered himself beside her, propped up on one elbow. His other hand swept up and down her body, groping at her in places, and his thumbs swiping over her hard nipples. He repositioned her, bringing her to her side and pulling her back against him. She rubbed her ass against him seductively, anticipating his next move.

He settled himself beside her, hugging her to him, and laying his head down on the bed. Liana waited, biting her lip, trying not to be so emotional. She wanted him, hadn't felt him for two years, and yet he had decided to sleep. She knew he must have been tired from facing the cat. Still, for a yautja, she did not feel that this was an acceptable excuse. She felt pressure build behind her eyes and she tried to get out of the bed.

He held her fast, so she yelled at him, "Let me go!" His arms loosened enough for her to turn and shove at his chest.

"What wrong?"

She struggled in his grasp, and her voice broke as she asked, "Why did you stop?"

He let out a deep purr and pressed his forehead to hers, "Did not want to. I doubt he gave you any birth control, did not want to go against your wishes."

She slumped in the bed, relaxing. She played with his short black chest spikes for a moment nervously before saying, "That's ok...we can still go ahead…" Her hand slid down his body to cup her hands over his manly bits.

"There will be no abortions." He said sternly, not moving.

"I know."

He lifted his head, looking in her eyes, "You want pups?"

She let out a sigh and said, "I'm afraid to."

"No harm come to them. Will be healthy, will be strong."

"It's not that...I'm afraid I wont be a very good parent. I've always hated kids."

He let out a pulsing growl, "No say that. You be great."

"Then yes...I want children. Your children." Though she didn't find that to be a very arousing sentence, his cock had leapt to attention.

He lifted himself above her, feeling up her body and its curves before he roughly spread her legs and let himself sink into her tight, wet heat. She lifted her legs up, tilting her hips at a better angle and giving him full access. Her eyes were focused on the ripple of his abs with every thrust. She tangled her hands into his hair, squeezing at the strands. Aggression rising in tandem with lust, he rammed inside her with vicious force.

Her climax was quickly building with a force that almost scared her. She buckled under him, grabbing fistfulls of his hair, only causing him to hammer into her that much harder. Ragged, hoarse breathing filled the room. She threw her head back with a passionate cry as she came, and felt him release inside her moments later. He rolled to his back, taking her with him.

It took close to six months to reach the planet, so it was actually a year long trip by the time they got home (but around two years by human standards). The journey was worthwhile however, as De'aro insisted on not only trapping a few of the animals, but about a hundred adult individuals. They turned the small planet into a preserve for the cats where they could breed and thrive. Some were sold off for chivas, exported to other planets for private clan hunts, or killed off by yautja who had paid to come and hunt them on the preserve.

Liana crouched through the brush, wrist gauntlets on both arms, weapons on her hips, a tranquilizer in her hand, and a bio mask covering her face. The wrist gauntlets and mask had been a gift from De'aro once they returned to his planet. The eyes of her metal mask were slightly slanted, giving her a fierce and angry look. The blocky nose piece was also slightly different from De'aro's mast, tapering to a point at the end that sort of made it almost look bird-like; the falconer predator mask. She soon learned that the alien cats were extraordinarily smart, and like the bears, when she put them under they would remember the experience and avoid humans.

It went farther than that though. They knew the swoosh of the net as it launched, and without looking they sprung away. Their molten metal eyes picked up the distinct shimmer of some the most advanced cloaking devices of the yautja. Miles away, they recognized the hint of her and De'aro's smell in the wind. They knew the tranquilizer as well, and once hit, tucked themselves in trees before the sedative kicked in as to not be messed with. They were a pain in the ass, yet she received praise from almost every yautja that purchased one of the cats from her stock.

The cats were not only strong and worthy prey, but were smart and made the hunt more challenging. She'd conditioned them in a way that gave them an advantage, so they were harder to kill. When Ka-dra-ka had purchased one of the cat then, she was afraid she would never hear from that horny teenager ever again. However, word from Acc'ora said that he took down the beast with ease, and Liana knew that his skill rapidly increasing. When Liana spotted one of the cats within the forest, she began to switch through her vision modes. This particular cat was one she had sedated and evaluated recently, indicated by the data the microchip was giving off.

Still, the different vision modes made it easy to see if they were healthy or pregnant or otherwise and so she lingered to check it. They were easy to breed, but not parasitic like the xenomorphs the yautja loved to hunt. They could climb and run, and were resilient to bleed or die. The cats possessed a big, impressive skull with the unique bone ridge on top. De'aro had hunted one, and she had seen that the skull and bones held a pattern on them like termites or tree roots. They could stand on their hind legs and roar a challenge, and the yautja found a sort of thrill to that. Unlike the xenomorphs, the cats would have a pelt to claim as well.

An elder who had visited told her that there was a possibility that the yautjas favorite prey might just switch over to these beats instead of the hard meats, and Liana had felt proud. She felt like she was truly a part of the community, and though she had not aimed to turn the cats into it, they were becoming the ultimate prey. As she observed the cat, she stroked her own belly, her hand sliding over the slight bump, trying to think of a name for her child. She was many months away from giving birth, but already knew that it was to be a boy.

Though she did not hunt, constantly tracking down the nocturnal cats had sharpened her skills. The slightest sound caught her ears and she quickly swiveled around and with the flick of her wrist her serrated blades shot out. She held her blades out tensely, seeing nothing but a shimmer in the darkness. She felt a warm hand press to her belly and then sparks of blue erupted to reveal an eight foot reptilian alien with dark grey dreads staring down at her. Her shoulders relaxed, and she retracted the sharp blades back into the gauntlet.

"De'aro," She said affectionately, "How many times have I told you that I can defend myself?"

He let out a grumble, and his hand carefully swept over her belly. Apparently, that was his answer. She was pregnant and so he would protect her even more fiercely, no matter if she could fend for herself or not. She placed her hand over his for a moment, and then turned back to silently head through the trees. With De'aro at her side, she began to locate her next target.

The end end end.


End file.
